Taapsee Pannu recently shared screenspace with Shah Rukh Khan in Rajkumar Hirani’s directorial Dunki. In a recent roundtable, the actress explained how small-budget films are struggling both in theatres and OTT. She recently produced a film named Dhak Dhak, which featured Fatima Sana Shaikh, Dia Mirza, and Sanjana Sanghi.
Taapsee said that the producers of small-budget films would recover just the production cost through OTT rights and that they wouldn’t be left with anything for P&A (Publicity and Advertising). Taapsee stated, “If those films are put on OTT directly, the platforms won’t advertise much since they don’t have any stars in them. If we take a risk and decide to release them in theatres, we will not get a proper release. Hence, they go unnoticed. In the end, such films are tagged as flop.”
The actress further said, “Then those movies release on OTT eight weeks later. People will be like, when did this film release? If they know about the film’s result, they might think it is not worth their time and attention. If it is a big movie like Jawan, which people love to watch in theatres, it will also have a solid response on OTT. But these small and medium-budget films won’t get the required push on digital platforms.”
The actress went on to say, “These days, OTT platforms are filled with many releases. Every week, there is a new release, be it an original or theatrical film. It is important that the movies need to be given a good push to reach the audience. The situation has changed drastically post-pandemic. Audiences have so many options, and it is difficult to get their attention.”
