Hyderabad: OTT trend spelling death of theatre industry in city

Hyderabad: The theatre industry, especially the single screen theatres are hit by a double whammy, one from the Covid pandemic and other by the OTT platforms. While the theatre industry has suffered huge losses during the lockdown period, however, even after normalcy is back, the situation of theatres has not improved as the producers are opting OTT platforms for releasing movies. It must be noted that theatres completely depend on blockbuster movies wbich run for three to four weeks to get good returns.

As the cinema lovers are still averse to watching movies in theatres due to Covid fears, the producers are choosing to release movies on OTT (Over The Top) platforms. The theatres are unable to get a commercial come back as movies continue to line up on OTT platforms for their releases.

Raising concerns over the impact of OTT, an exhibitor from Hyderabad said, "Releasing a movie on digital platforms just after three weeks of its release is completely damaging the business of the exhibitors. The film 'Master' could have run for two to three weeks as there was no other big movie in theatres but unfortunately, in no time the movie was released on Amazon Prime which made the audience glued to their smart TVs and mobiles."

"To drag the audience back to the theatres, we need some commercial blockbusters and Master could have been one such movie. However, until and unless producers, actors and decision-makers take a decision in favour of theatres, it's hard for us to do business. Hence, we request all of them to support us by delaying their OTT releases," said Krishna Prasad, Gokul Theatre, Erragadda.

"If the OTT release trend continues, the theatrical releases will be highly impacted and exhibitors will not find any point to screen the movie in theatres. Hundreds of people who live on theatres will lose the lives," said Raju, Shiva Parvathi Theatre, JNTU.

"The longer-run of few movies in Theatres could have given a new lease of life to the Covid-hit theatres. But the direct release of movies 0n OTT is leading to the production of pirated content on large scale and has turned out a boon for sites like Tamilrockers and others which are able to get HD content. Also, if this trend continues, the demand for satellite rights will also fall. Overall, the short-sighted decision could cause long-term damage to the film business," said Narsimha Reddy, Ramana Theatre, Amberpet.

The lack of solid content for the next few months means the theatres would remain empty for a few more months which was not a good sign for the film industry, he added.