Telugu films Tuck Jagadish, Love Story, Seetimaarr heading for an OTT release?

Unlike the scenario (after the reopening of film theatres) post the first wave of COVID-19 where Telugu film producers enthusiastically came forward to release their films in theatres, the biggest names in the industry aren't willing to take a similar gamble with big-screen releases after the second wave of the pandemic. The theatres across Telugu states swung back into action this July but no film starring a leading mainstream actor has announced its theatrical release yet. Besides the insipid commercial fate of films like Thimmarusu and Ishq that hit theatres on July 30, the resounding response for the direct-to-OTT release Narappa has made the producers think twice about their release plans. 

While it's more or less confirmed that Nani, Ritu Varma-starrer Tuck Jagadish is headed for a direct release on Amazon Prime Video this September 20 (for a deal that amounted to Rs 37 crore), two other films have joined the OTT race. The Kabaddi-based sports drama Seetimaarr featuring Gopichand and Tamannaah besides Sekhar Kammula's much-anticipated romance Love Story may now opt for a digital release. It has been more than a year since Love Story, starring Naga Chaitanya and Sai Pallavi, has been lying in the cans and the producers, Asian Cinema, have already waited for a long time to release the film in theatres. aha had bagged the post-theatrical streaming rights of Love Story earlier this year. The fate of Seetimaarr, which completed its shoot in early 2021, is no different.

With films of actors like Nani, Venkatesh, with a wide fan base and a minimum-guarantee success rate at the box office, too taking the OTT route, it was only a matter of time that other films would follow suit. News portal Sakshi has reported that Amazon Prime Video is in talks with the makers of Seeti Maar to bag the direct-to-release rights for a sum of Rs 16 crore. What comes as a surprise is that Netflix has also initiated a conversation with the producers of Sharwanand-Siddharth's action drama Maha Samudram for a direct digital release. Meanwhile, Nithiin's Maestro and Venkatesh, Meena-starrer Drishyam 2 are set to stream on Disney+ Hotstar shortly.