Bollywood flick 'Gulabo Sitabo' has become the first Hindi film to have a direct release on an OTT (online) platform instead of a traditional theatrical release.
Taking to Instagram, Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan on Thursday announced that the premier of the movie 'Gulabo Sitabo' will take place on OTT platform Amazon Prime Videos on 12 June.
The movies starring B-town megastar actor Amitabh Bachchan and actor-singer Ayushmann Khurrana is a light-hearted quirky film that was scheduled to release in April.
The development comes as the film industry is facing high uncertainty with regard to the opening of theaters as India has been under lockdown since March 25. Cinema halls were among the first public places to be shut even before the national lockdown came into force.
The much anticipated flick, directed by Shoojit Sircar, will be available for streaming in 200 countries.
Vijay Subramaniam, Director and Head, Content, Amazon Prime Video, India, told media, "We are happy to exclusively premiere Gulabo Sitabo on Prime Video. It is the first step in our endeavour to bring superior cinematic experiences to our customer’s doorstep."
Amazon Prime Video, which has more than 100 million downloads, claims to have doubled its subscribers in India last June, expanding its viewership in smaller towns and cities, providing a wide-based audience for the movie.
As soon as the news about the movie starring the two critically-acclaimed actors broke, Twitter was flooded with reactions from tweeples. While some netizens said it may not be a long-term viable thing for Amazon Prime, others celebrated the direct digital release. Film analysts such as Komal Nahta also shared their views.
Here comes the official announcement! @SrBachchan and @ayushmannk's #GulaboSitabo premieres on 12th June on @PrimeVideoIN... The @ShoojitSircar directed light-hearted quirky drama becomes the first Bollywood biggie to announce its direct digital release... And it's just begun! pic.twitter.com/MwZONdeEWo
— Rahul Raut (@Rahulrautwrites) May 14, 2020
First proof of my Breaking News YouTube video of 24th April, wherein I had said a few films will premiere on OTT platforms.‘Gulabo Sitabo’ will premiere on Amazon on 12th June, 2020.📽️👉 https://t.co/4Y7T6IiJnz @SrBachchan @ayushmannk @ShoojitSircar @PrimeVideoIN #GulaboSitabo pic.twitter.com/olS507ddAL
— Komal Nahta (@KomalNahta) May 14, 2020
Now this is interesting. Don't know if it is a long term viable thing for Amazon prime. They must have paid some 35-50Crs for #GulaboSitabo , assuming that is the final budget of a movie with 2 of those stars and that the producers have sold at that price to recover the budget https://t.co/RnoS1r0PVE
— Surinderxx (@surinderxx) May 14, 2020
IT’S OFFICIAL... #GulaboSitabo - starring #AmitabhBachchan and #AyushmannKhurrana - to premiere globally on #Amazon Prime Video... Mark the date: 12 June 2020... Directed by Shoojit Sircar... Produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar. #GIBOSIBOonPrime pic.twitter.com/WL1zeoVDEO
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) May 14, 2020
Meanwhile, another movie by Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, titled Lakshmi Bomb, a horror-comedy, is reportedly skipping the theatre release and also being considered for an opening on a content streaming platform.
