As theatres in Tamil Nadu remain closed for the sixth consecutive week because of the precautionary lockdown to flatten the coronavirus outbreak, it was recently announced that Ponmagal Vandhal, starring Jyotika, and produced by Suriya's 2D Entertainment, will be getting a direct OTT release on Amazon Prime Video, soon. The film had originally targetted a theatrical release on March 27.

This decision, however, didn't go down well with the theatre owners, with the general secretary of the association, R Panneerselvam condemning the production house's "hasty" decision in a video that was released on social media on Saturday. Stressing that films made for theatrical release, as a policy, must never opt for digital releases, he even threatened to never allow a theatre release of any film involving Suriya, and his production house.

In this context, 30 producers from the Tamil Nadu Film Producers' Council have now come up with a joint statement, supporting the OTT release of small/ medium budgeted movies. The producers have welcomed the move citing that it will help the producers of these films to recover their investments, and also, will reduce the number of films queuing up for theatrical release once the look down is lifted. While reiterating that the producer has the prerogative and the right to decide the fate of his film, they have also urged the different associations to defer from making individual decisions henceforth.