OTTs hit pause button on box office flops
Bheed or Gumraah, which were purchased as part of package deals, but didn’t deliver results. Everyone is being choosy, and realises that they don’t need more content than they require.
And two, box office success is some indication of whether the audience is interested in the film." The person said at least 30-40 Hindi films ready for release haven’t been able to sign OTT deals due to uncertainties surrounding their box office success. As far as controversial subjects, such as The Kerala Story go, platforms would rather not ruffle any feathers, he added.
That said, big-ticket films riding on front-line Bollywood stars are wielding significant influence as potential game-changers. While producers recognize the allure of star power, they are no longer interested in investing heavily on publicity and advertising to promote these titles in cinemas.
Instead, they are happy to support OTT players, who are willing to help recover the entire production cost, by leveraging a star‘s appeal. While Bawaal started streaming on Prime Video last weekend, Shahid Kapoor-starrer Bloody Daddy on JioCinema is the most watched Hindi film on OTT (with a viewership of 16.6 million) for the January to June period, according to a report by media consulting firm Ormax.
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