For Isabelle Kaif and Sooraj Pancholi, it seems the right time to dance yet. Their release Time To Dance is being force-released into theatres before it goes where it belongs: to the digital platform. A source in the know lets the cat out of the bag. “The smaller releases have found a solution for the deadlock situation. They will get a ‘token release’ in theatres and then go quickly to the OTT platform.”
Two recent films from producers T Series have recently followed this route. The rom-com Tuesdays & Fridays that released this month in February and the forthcoming dance film Time To Dance which releases in March were given a token release in theatres and will be streaming on Netflix within two weeks of their theatrical release.
While this clever scheme to beat the protests of theatre exhibitors against new films being sold to OTT platforms might work for the smaller films, the real challenge is to find a meeting ground between theatres and the OTT platform for the big releases.
Image source: IMDb