Kantara is an action thriller written and directed by Rishab Shetty, and produced by Vijay Kiragandur, under Hombale Films, best known for the KGF franchise. It stars Shetty in the lead role along with Sapthami Gowda and Kishore.
Producers of big-budget, hit films are selling digital streaming rights across over-the-top platforms to recoup investments faster.
For instance, Telugu period action drama RRR, directed by S.S. Rajamouli, is available on Netflix in Hindi and on ZEE5 in south Indian languages, while sports drama ‘83’ is streaming on both Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar.
Film trade experts said the new trend will allow producers to de-risk high-scale projects and allow better recovery of investments, more so, as single platforms are unlikely to offer fees high enough to compensate the producers. Besides, platforms are also looking to focus on specific languages.
OTT platforms are willing to buy language-specific rights as high-budget movies are once-in-a-year kind of a phenomena and will not be shown on satellite television too soon. For instance, RRR, with a budget of Rs. 500 crore, is estimated to have made over Rs. 300 crore from the sale of satellite and digital rights, while ’83 despite a below-par performance at the box office, is likely to recoup Rs. 50 crore and Rs. 30 crore from Disney+ Hotstar and Netflix, respectively. This will help recover the film’s production cost of Rs. 240 crore and the Rs. 20 crore spent on advertising and publicity, according to trade website Box Office India.
