"Low-budget films will struggle the most to find theatres in this current scenario," says Anu Prabhakar

With the Covid-19 pandemic posing a prolonged threat to theatrical releases, filmmakers across the country have been striving hard to ensure that their efforts get sufficient justice. The issue, or the same threat, is prevalent across the board and the Kannada Film Industry has been the first-hand witness to it.

Only a few months ago, the makers of the Puneeth Rajkumar starrer '

Yuvarathnaa

' had to resort to an

OTT

release at the last moment following a sudden surge in cases and the resulting change in theatre occupancy guidelines. Duniya Vijay's '

Salaga

' too was caught in a "release rut", so to speak, for a very long time until being scheduled to release on August 20th.

In this vein, one does wonder about the fate of low-budgeted films and whether or not an OTT release is the best and most viable option in their case. The influx of new OTT media has certainly changed the landscape of cinema in India and thereby, the race to find the best platform is always on among filmmakers. Akin to a theatrical release of the past, the struggle to find a suitable buyer on OTT too is likely to become apparent in the coming days and this does put the already-marginalized part of the film industry under serious pressure.

Shedding light on the matter, actor Anu Prabhakar, who is known to dabble with all kinds of cinema, says: "The concept of a theatrical release is gradually fading away and one might get to see even the most obvious contenders opt for an OTT release in the future. If a film like 'Yuvarathnaa' is made to endure the change, one can definitely imagine the plight of small budget films. My own film '

Saara Vajra

' is awaiting release for quite some time but a theatrical release in this particular scenario seems such a far-fetched idea. We are trying to gain traction by sending the film across to several film festivals and spread the word before the theatrical release option seems plausible. I feel this will be the pattern across the board and we will see many films coming out on OTT directly".

Indeed, the growing dilemma among producers, exhibitors, and filmmakers is quite likely to give way to a whole new trend and gradually render the current system as "old-school". With every producer today being posed with the "theatre vs OTT" question today, it wouldn't take long before a new culture seeps in permanently and becomes the norm all over. And all things considered, it would be interesting to see how democratic or merit-based is the new system and whether or not it will allow small players to break free at any point.