Thothapuri on OTT: Navarasa Nayaka Jaggesh’s adult comedy to stream on THIS date

Director Vijayaprasad, who is infamous for marrying philosophy with double entendre, stuck to this routine with his last release, Thothapuri – Chapter 1. Starring Navarasa Nayaka Jaggesh in the lead, the film also featured Aditi Prabhudeva, Hema Dutt, Veena Sundar, Suman Ranganathan and Dhananjaya, among others and followed a tale of friendship between four individuals: Tailor Eeregowda, his associate Nanjamma, bank employee Shakeela Banu, and Biryani cook 'Donne' Rangamma.

The film, which was initially planned as a two-part pan-India film, was eventually released as a Kannada only movie, following lead actor Jaggesh’s objection to dubbing it in other languages. The film was then planned as a September 30 release, along with Kantara and Ponniyin Selvan. Amid these film, especially following the run-away success of Kantara, Thothapuri failed to have any impact at the box office.

The film, we hear, had been picked up by Zee Network for its satellite and digital rights, with Zee5 Kannada likely to bring the film to audiences on November 18. This has not been confirmed by the streamer, but is a likely date, as it falls in the on or after 48 days from release bracket.

Following the release of Thothapuri and its failure to draw crowds at the box office, Jaggesh had made veiled disparaging comments about the films that had been declared hits. Subsequently, rumour broke that the actor’s film Raghavendra Stores, which was to have released on August 5 and was pushed ahead, may not see a theatrical release, because his comments had been targeted at the production house that had backed his film too. OTTplay had written that the film could possibly get a direct-to-OTT release only, as Hombale Films still has a good working relationship with director Santhosh Ananddram. Jaggesh had responded to this with a ‘like’, more or less confirming the rumour.