SCENE BIG SCREEN SUCCUMBS TO SMALL SCREEN

BOLLYWOOD’S last hope of 2022 was a Jayeshbhai Jordaar starrer, but it was as if it jumped from a aircraft from a height of 35,000 feet.

If the chief star of that film had posted his vacation photos on Instagram, that would have garnered more likes than the number of audiences that went to theatres to watch that film. Only three films, namely Bhool Bhulaiya, Drishyam 2 (a remake of a Malayalam hit), and The Kashmir Files (many have suspicions about its success but the figures speak for themselves) were proven hits. There was also a Rs 400-crore film that was a “designer” hit – half of its budget was spent on proving it was a hit.

Yet, Bollywood makers are not too worried. They only have to recover their print and advertising (P&A) costs or a maximum of 20-25 per cent of their budget and the rest is “OTT malik”. In short, for Bollywood makers, film releases have become just a formality, since 75 per cent of the cost is borne by OTTs irrespective of the film’s performance in theatres. Thus, the big screen has succumbed to the small screen and has come to totally rely on it. This is ironic, because they used to look down upon it in the past.

The OTT Windfall