As new Tamil releases flop on OTT, theatres are relieved

Being a prime mover may twist things either way at times. On the one hand, it charts a course into unexplored territories and on the other condemns the adventurers to their own fate. The exhibitors in Tamil Nadu are keenly watching the changing trends taking place in the OTT platforms as it has become a new rival for them to combat during the lockdown period.

A Tamil daily which had its ear to the ground reports that on the one hand cinema viewers who used to visit standalone theatres and multiplexes were unhappy with the exorbitant pricing for the snacks and cold drinks. However, the two new films - ' Ponmagal Vandhal' and ' Penguin' – were below par for their expectations.

With this feedback received from social media and elsewhere, the exhibitor lobby is happy that as the big-budget ventures of Vijay and Dhanush start rolling out in the last quarter of the year, things will gradually improve. It will also shake off the threat from all these Net channels who had quickly moved in to cash in but now find themselves saddled with duds, they affirm.