Back in the day, Telugu cinema and its producers had a substantial role in the closure of the film business. This was primarily due to the fact that they had multiple income revenues, including theatrical, satellite, digital, and music rights.
But in the current day generation, it appears that producers are largely surrendering to OTT platforms as they have almost completely dominated the satellite and digital space.
In accordance with this, the OTT platforms had been paying a lot of money for producers, which complimented them in the production process and hence built a lot of dependency on the OTT platforms.
However, things are starting to change now as these OTT platforms are starting to call the shots with regard to films these days. They are the ones who are deciding the release dates and arrival timings of most films.
This was acknowledged by another than senior producer and distributor Suniel Narang. The veteran personality stated that his own film Kubera is getting dictated by Amazon prime video with regard to the release plan that is in effect for the film.
He revealed that the film was originally supposed to release on June 20 and they had requested 10 day post movement window with Amazon prime due to the delay in production. However, Amazon prime was elected about this as they have reportedly intimated that they would cut down the deal by ₹10 crore in case of a postponement.
This ultimately results in a scenario where every film maker must mandatory listen to OTT platforms and their release slots without any space for deviation. One might argue that this is not a good culture, but at the end of it, it is the OTT platforms that pay such fancy prices for films and they deserve a say in the production as well.