Kannada producer Arvind Venkatesh Reddy (AVR), who has been producing films under the AVR Productions banner, including Sujay Shastri's 8, starring Anurag Kashyap, and Simple Suni's Richie Rich, headlined by Karthik Mahesh, has launched a new Kannada OTT platform, AVR Cine-Max. The launch happened at a grand ceremony, attended by several leading personalities from the Kannada film industry. The platform will be overseen by actor-director Avinash Divakar Sringeri, actor and grandson of veteran Kannada actor Narasimharaju.
The launch event was graced by Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce President Dr Jayamala, filmmakers TS Nagabharana, Nagathihalli Chandrashekar, TN Seetharam, P Sheshadri, Shashank and Naganna, among others. Inaugurating the platform, Dr Jayamala congratulated the team and expressed hope that it would benefit Kannada filmmakers and producers. “I wish this new OTT platform great success. I hope it becomes a strong platform for Kannada content and creates new opportunities for the industry,” she said.
Positioning itself as a platform created by Kannadigas for Kannadigas, AVR Cine-Max aims to bring Kannada cinema and entertainment content to audiences worldwide. The OTT platform already hosts more than 750 films and plans to expand into original programming, reality shows, music-based content, sports coverage, and live events.
Speaking about the vision behind the initiative, founder Arvind said the platform was conceived as a dedicated space for Kannada content creators. “AVR Cine-Max has been launched with the objective of taking Kannada cinema and creative entertainment content to global audiences. We want to encourage original creators and provide a platform where their work can reach viewers around the world,” he said.
The platform has already lined up a variety of content. Filmmaker Ravi Srivatsa’s Gang of UK will be streamed as a web series, while actor and television personality Srujan Lokesh will host a show titled Sruja Talkies. Weekend music programmes and other original entertainment offerings are also part of the content roadmap.
AVR Cine-Max is additionally looking to tap into the sports segment by enabling live streaming of cricket and other sporting events. “We are planning a grand cricket tournament in Malaysia in the near future. Sports enthusiasts and organisers will also be able to use the platform for live broadcasts. We seek the support of the Kannada community for this endeavour,” said Arvind.
For Avinash, the launch marks the revival of a long-held ambition to build a Kannada-focused OTT ecosystem. He revealed that the idea gained momentum following discussions at the Kannada film industry’s recent Andu Indu Mundu programme.
“The words spoken by KFCC President Dr Jayamala during the event inspired us to revisit the concept of a dedicated Kannada OTT platform. Earlier, we had launched an OTT platform called Katte, but due to various reasons we could not continue it. When I later discussed the idea of AVR Cine-Max with Arvind, he immediately believed in the vision and came forward to invest in the project,” he said.
With a sizeable content library already in place and ambitious plans spanning films, web series, music, sports and live events, AVR CINE-MAX hopes to establish itself as a significant player in the Kannada digital entertainment space while strengthening the global reach of Kannada content.