PremiumPrithviraj on how Akshay Kumar agreed to do Selfiee a day after Driving Licence released on Amazon Prime Video
The Malayalam actor-director is co-producing Selfiee with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions
Last Updated: 10.16 AM, Apr 06, 2022
In the past two years, regional cinema has benefitted the most from OTTs, with audiences across the country streaming movies of South languages. Recently, Prithviraj Sukumaran talked about how the OTT release of his 2019 film, Driving Licence, helped Bollywood star Akshay Kumar watch the movie and agree to do its Hindi remake Selfiee the very next day.
Driving Licence, which was produced by Prithviraj Productions and Magic Frames, had the actor as well as Suraj Venjaramoodu in the lead and was a superhit when it released in theatres in December 2019.
In a recent interview with The Cue, the actor talked about how Malayalam cinema’s focus on content from the start of the previous decade had helped it reap benefits, especially in the OTT era. The actor cited the example of how Ayyappanum Koshiyum was watched by people across the country when it dropped on OTTs and how the audience could relate to it, due to its pan-Indian content.
Prithviraj said that this was not the case with movies like the 2013 release Mumbai Police, which took almost 3-4 years to catch the attention of other-language viewers. Now, as soon as a movie hits a streaming platform, 40 days after its theatrical run, and if it’s a good movie, the word spreads.
Substantiating the reach of OTTs, the actor said that on the day Driving Licence released on Amazon Prime Video in 2020, he called Akshay Kumar, asking the Bollywood star to watch the movie. “I told him I think it would make for a good Hindi film and that he might like it,” said Prithviraj. “The very next day, he called me to say that he watched the movie and said he would like to do it in Hindi.”
Prithviraj Productions is making its Bollywood foray with the Hindi remake of Driving Licence titled Selfiee. The movie, which is co-produced by Dharma Productions, also has Emraan Hashmi, Diana Penty and Nushrratt Bharuccha as part of the cast.