With the technological advancements and rapid changes in the trend the thought process of the people has been witnessing a sea change. When it comes to film world, which started with silent movies, to black and white, then Eastman colour, colour, addition of graphics and then changed from celluloid to digitilisation, there has been a tremendous change in the medium and presentation. Accordingly, the choice of the movie-goers has also evolved with time.
The latest technology in exhibiting movies is the Over-the-Top (OTT) medium, which seems to have become a challenge for many movie producers. Though the OTT platforms have been there for the past few years, their impact on the movie-goers came in to the fore during the pandemic. Movie viewers in a large numbers shifted to OTT platforms, leading to a cause for concern which may have been a major reason behind the temporary stalling of movie shootings.
We have witnessed strikes called by the workers in the film industry, asking the producers to increase their salaries so far. But surprising everyone, the producers have now supported a strike. Big producers have also joined the bandwagon and announced they will stall movie shoots from August 1. With a sense to protect the movie theaters as well as the film industry in the future due to the impact of the OTT, the producers seem to have been forced to take the decision to stop shootings.
Under the umbrella of the active Telugu Film Producer Guild, some of the producers held discussions in the past few days. They took the decision after serious consideration about the threat to movie theatres. One of the major decisions is that movies made with a heavy budget should be streamed on OTT as many as 10 weeks after its theatrical release. Their very intention is to divert the attention of the viewer from the OTT to the theatre.
The pandemic made the exhibitors close their theatres for two years. With the closure of the theatres, for average movie-goers, OTT became the only option for entertainment. Big budget movies also directly streamed on OTT platforms. As it is very cost effective to watch a new movie in their drawing rooms, the viewers also easily connected to the OTT platforms.
Big Tollywood producers like Allu Aravind also launched an OTT platform called Aha. As expected, the big screen has been facing troubles and there is a drastic reduction in the footfall to the theatres, though they have the best technology to screen movies.
Movie lovers these days are ready to wait for a few days to watch a new movie on OTT. It is evident with the failure of recent big budget movies which were released in theaters. The impact on movie-going in Tollywood is reflected in the damage control measures taken by the producers council after sensing the unavoidable threat to the big screen from OTT platforms. There is an argument going on at present that an average producer can earn from OTT apart from theatrical business and digital rights, so then what is the need of controlling OTT by extending the time period to 10 weeks to stream movies after their theatrical release.
An average movie-goer has to shell out Rs 2,000 to 3,000 to watch a movie with family in a multiplex. Annual subscription to OTT platforms is less expensive than a one-time visit to the theatre. The change in the movie-goers preferences has been cracking the theatrical system.
Do producers prefer theatrical business than digital earnings? Will the decisions taken by the Telugu Film Producer Guild benefit the producers as well as movie-goers? These are some of the doubts raised by film industry analysts.
But the decision to make the ticket price affordable is a boon for the common man. The producers have also taken decision on controlling the OTT apart from budget and reduction in production cost. That is why they decided to stop movie shootings on temporary basis from August 1.
But if shoots are stopped, what about the survival of film industry workers? Are the producers mounting more troubles for the workers who already faced financial troubles during the pandemic? These are questions raised by some of the insiders in Tollywood. One has to wait for some time to see the results of the efforts made by the producers in order to protect the theaters as well as film industry from the threats of OTT platforms.
(Story by Sunil Boddula)
