Finally, here is the fate of all six films released this season. Let us go step by step.
Biker, starring Sharwanand, is declared a flop at the theatre, and overall, considering the budget, this is a loss-making venture even after adding the OTT earnings. The traction of the audience at the theatres was underwhelming, which kept the film in the flop zone.
Next is Raakaasa, the comedy horror directed by Manasa Sharma and starring Sangeet Sobhan in the lead. The film could make breakeven just because of the OTT deal, as its theatrical collection was not in a position to compensate for the budget. However, OTT saved it.
Then comes Dacoit: A Love Story of Adivi Sesh, where the producer herself is reportedly said to have told that they got saved because of the OTT deal that happened long ago during the success phase of Major. Had there been no OTT deal, this film would have ended up as a disaster for the producer, but now it has saved its skin thanks to OTT.
Next is Thimmarajupalli TV, which was produced by Kiran Abbavaram at around Rs 2 crore and sold out to OTT for Rs 2.5 crore, though it was earlier overhyped with different figures. Other kinds of non-theatrical rights like music fetched around Rs 50 lakh as per sources. In that way, the film managed to breakeven, while its theatrical run is miserable to the core.
Then the film Papam Prathap, starring Thiruveer, also failed to pull audiences to theatres, and it is safe because it is made by ETV Win for its own streaming platform.
So by all means, without OTT, all these films would have become complete disasters. Only OTT breathed oxygen into almost all of them except Biker, which remains a budget failure.
This makes it clear that without OTT, the film industry can shut down. Even big films that were made long ago are struggling to release due to not finding the right OTT price.
Many major budget films are first tying up OTT deals and then starting their shoots. Small, big, or mid-range, nothing is happening today without OTT. This is neither a hero-driven nor a director-driven industry; it is completely an OTT-driven industry.
OTT is the only oxygen cylinder for an ailing film industry.