Rudri on OTT: When and where to watch Kannada revenge drama

Streaming platforms do not buy Kannada films; even if they do, they insist that there be a theatrical release first, with the box office performance determining if or not a deal gets struck. This has been the most widely heard comment about digital rights of films in Sandalwood for a while now. With this being the trend, a lion’s share of the films released in 2022 and 2023 so far remain without a digital partner. This also means that direct-to-OTT releases do not happen anymore.

The sad reality in this is that a lot of Kannada films that were in theatres only for a few days with barely any audience languish without a streaming partner because the teams behind them are hung up about picked by major platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Zee5 Kannada or JioCinema. Kannada filmmakers very rarely look at other available options, like, for instance, Namma Flix, the OTT platform for Kannada cinema only. The team of the Kannada film Rudri, though, realises the difficulties of a theatrical release, especially in the absence of a ‘mass hero or established heroine’ and because it has done the festival circuit and won some awards, which labels it art-house. Intent on getting their film across to audiences, the team has struck a deal with Namma Flix and will release the film on the platform on November 10.

Pavana Gowda-led revenge drama Rudri to get direct-to-OTT release 

Led by Pavana Gowda, Rudri has been written and directed by Badiger Devendra and follows the protagonist, a young girl, who becomes the unfortunate victim of sexual abuse. How she deals with this forms he crux of the revenge drama. According to the film’s producer CR Manjunath, Rudri is inspired by instances of gang rape in the country, including a case from north Karnataka, where the film was shot.