Kangana Ranaut on Why ‘Thalaivi’ Can’t Have a Digital Release

The actor opens up about films directly releasing on OTT platforms due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Kangana Ranaut in the poster from Thalaivi.

(Photo Courtesy: Pinterest)

With the film and TV industry incurring huge losses due to the coronavirus lockdown being imposed in the country, there’s also been a heated debate about films releasing directly on OTT platforms (Gulabo Sitabo, Shakuntala Devi, Bhuj). There’s also a lot of speculation about the other movies that were slated to release this year. Now, in an interview to Pinkvilla, Kangana Ranaut has cleared the air about her upcoming release Thalaivi, a film based on Jayalalithaa’s life.

The actor said,

“It’s not possible for Thalaivi to have a direct OTT release because it is a massive scale film. Films like Thalaivi and Manikarnika are meant for viewing in theatres. On the other hand, films like Judgementall Hai Kya and Panga are digital friendly. They have recovered huge costs by releasing in the digital space. So, it depends”.

Kangana also explained as to whether digital releases will affect the remunerations of actors. “For example, Thalaivi is a bilingual film. The film has been sold to both Netflix and Amazon in both Hindi and Tamil for around Rs 55 crore. When a project is conceived, there are the financial and recovery blueprints associated with it. When I say yes to a project, I always charge based on the recovery blueprint. Even after the coronavirus lockdown is lifted, I will charge taking into account the recovery cost.

When Gulabo Sitabo was announced for a digital release, there was a war of words between the producers and multiplexes. Inox released a rather strong statement, criticising the deal. Calling the producers “fair-weather friends”, the multiplex chain said that they would be “constrained to examine its options, and reservers all rights, including taking retributive measures, in dealing with such fair-weather friends.”

Following the statement, the Producers Guild of India called the multiplexes call on the issue “abrasive and unconstructive”.

(Inputs: Pinkvilla)