After Suriya's Soorarai Pottru Digital Release, Will It Be Vijay's Master?

The producers of the movie "Ponmagal Vandhal" starring Kollywood actress Jyothika in the lead, drew the wrath of some distributors in the circle for releasing their movie on OTT. It may be recalled that this was the first movie to have a digital release in the COVID era which had forced shut theatres. The movie was a courtroom drama produced under Suriya's 2D Entertainment banner. SO upset were the theatre owners that the association even threatened to boycott the movie.

However later, some producers came forward to support this decision. Hence "Ponmagal vandhaal" seems to have set a trend after its release on May 29. Now, people in the industry are slowly falling in line with this trend and are queuing up to release their movies on OTT platforms.

It may be recalled that many veterans came in support of Suriya who before the release of his actress wife's movie "Ponmagal vandhaal" assuring the distributors that films featuring big stars would not be sold to over-the-top (OTT) streaming service providers.

Now, the latest news is that Suriya starrer "Soorarai Pottru" will also be released on the OTT via Amazon prime video on October 30 in view of uncertainty about theatres reopening owing to corona menace rising day by day.

It is a matter of disappointment for Suriya as he had desired to watch this movie on the big screens. Soorarai Pottru is inspired by the true life events of Air deccan founder Captain Gopinath.

Now, with the government not really giving a nod to the reopening of theatres, filmmakers are choosing this as the safest option to at least get their investment back.

Now, the big question is whether other movies featuring big stars too will follow suit. Now, all eyes are on Vijay starrer "Master" whose cost works out to be four or five times more than "Soorarai Pottru". Speculations are rife that producers are waiting to check the fate of "Soorarai Pottru" after its release in Amazon so that they can take a call depending on the outcome of the digital release of their movie.

These kinds of calculations may or may not yield results as Tamil movies have limited market. Lots of producers are negotiating with OTT platforms but are unable to strike a deal because these platforms are not prepared to shell out big money these producers expect. Hence producers are caught in a dilemma and are forced to release somehow before the product becomes stale, besides bearing the burden of repaying to their private financiers.

Filmmaker Lakshman, the director of Bhoomi feels that the release of Soorarai Pottru via digital platform would not influence or compel other producers to follow the trend. But his statement appears ambiguous as he also said "But the fact remains that there is no other way to release films now. With more days gone, the producers mindset may change." This was his reply when he was asked about the "Bhoomi's prospect of OTT release. Now according to the current running theme, Producers are not ready to release their movies via OTT platforms. But we cannot predict their plans of action if Corona menace delays projects anymore.

Now, people in the industry feel that the release of Suriya's movie, and Jyothika's starrer "Ponmagal vandaal" was a wise decision by the makers.