As the theatres were shut down in the first wave of the pandemic, many Telugu films took the OTT way.
But surprisingly, in the second wave, the OTTs are searching for the content. Right now the theatres are closed and there is no indication when they are going to be reopened.
Even though they are reopened, they may have to run with 50% occupancy. In spite of this scenario, the producers are not giving their films to OTTs.
Heroes foiling producers' plans: No producer is prepared to pay interests for longer duration, keeping the film with himself. So, the producers generally think of striking a deal with buyers and close the matter with table profit.
Since it is the matter of OTT, there will be no botheration of hit or flop. There will be no collection tension. There wouldn't be any extra costs like pre release function, audio event, post release success meets etc.
So, OTT culture is like a golden duck for the producers. But the heroes are foiling their ideas.
What is the problem of heroes? There is a preconceived notion among all the heroes that releasing films on OTT would keep their image down.
As the films like "V" did not work on OTT, the fear complex among the heroes has increased. This is the reason Nani said a firm 'no' to direct OTT release to the producers of 'Tuck Jagadish'.
"Pagal" movie producers are not being able to take the OTT way as the hero Vishvak Sen is negating the idea. Naga Chaitanya is also saying 'no' and hence Sekhar Kammula's 'Love Story' is also not taking the OTT way.
As the films like Uppena and Krack released in the gap between the first wave and the second wave and made good business, many other heroes are also waiting for the pandemic wave to come down. Ravi Teja, who released the first look of his latest film also gave a message to meet at the theatres.
Heroes dream of watching their films only on the big screen. But the producers are tending towards the OTT to unburden themselves.
But the situation in Bollywood is different. The big films like Radhe are also releasing on pay per view basis. Salman is the producer of the film and so he took that decision.
No one knows when the Telugu heroes will understand the situation and become producer-friendly.
