Producers of Asif Ali's Kunjeldho share their stand on direct OTT releases

While maintaining that their new film Kunjeldho (starring Asif Ali) will not be a direct-to-video release, producers Suvin K Varkey and Prasobh Krishna of Little Big Films said it’s time to embrace the change, in a joint statement meant for exhibitors.

Pointing out that whatever is happening with the OTT platform is exactly what happened with television and YouTube before, the company said content still remains the undisputed king. “Cinema halls will survive provided you give the audience what they need. We need the theatrical experience but people are not going to visit cinema halls to simply watch a movie as we can do that on our fingertips. Improve your facilities and support the industry as responsible partners in the eco-system,” they said.

They added that the creators reserve the right to release the movie on the right platform and expressed their disappointment over the fact majority of the exhibitors are not paying the producers or distributors their share.

“The amount of money that exhibitors owe as of today to a handful of producers/distributors alone will be a 9-digit figure,” they observed. “We haven’t seen a single exhibitor give an extended run for a non-commercial movie because it has great quality. Whenever the footfall for a movie is low, it gets replaced with a new movie irrespective of the review or the star cast.”

The company also suggested the exhibitors accept movies that don’t get released because they didn’t see commercial value in them. “We producers are content makers and the new business model gives us more freedom to invest in great ideas, new forms of storytelling, support new directors, actors and technicians.”

The team went on to say that Kunjeldho is a story of survival and about a man who once lost everything getting his life back. The campus-based film marks the directorial debut of RJ Mathukutty.