New film picks fail to excite OTT audiences

NEW DELHI: Akshay Kumar-starrer Laxmii that premiered on Disney+Hotstar on Diwali was badly panned by critics and viewers alike, indicating that these over-priced Bollywood acquisitions aren’t really working for digital audiences. Trade website Box Office India said the horror comedy could have made around ₹110 crore in domestic box office collections, in addition to satellite, digital and music right sales, had it gone to cinemas. OTT may have suffered losses, due to films doing below expectations, which will impact premiums being paid for Hindi films for a direct digital release,” Karan Taurani, research analyst at Elara Capital Ltd said. Bihar-based exhibitor Vishek Chauhan agreed Laxmii was a film designed for single screen audiences and not elite subscribers who pay for shows like The Mandalorian, calling its direct-to-digital release “a big mistake.” Sanjeev Lamba, executive producer, Hungama Originals at Hungama Digital said the covid-19 pandemic has created much exuberance among OTT services to acquire mainstream Bollywood entertainers on price points substantially higher than what they would have shelled out before the pandemic. In response to Mint’s queries on Bollywood films receiving lukewarm response, Gaurav Gandhi, director and country general manager, Amazon Prime Video India said the company is delighted by customer response to both direct-to-digital movies and original series, and that all of these launches have led to a strong growth in new customers joining Prime as well as overall increase in viewership of Prime Video in India.