TV
Aamir Khan is known to make some hard decisions that have brought many changes in Bollywood. He was the first Bollywood superstar to skip upfront fee and instead demanded a percentage of the profit of the film which nowadays every big actor follows.
And now he has decided to introduce the pay-per-view model for his upcoming movie Sitaare Zameen Par. Since the film is produced by Aamir Khan Productions he can make a decision whether he wants to sell the rights to any digital platform or ensure that it gets available on YouTube on minimum charges.
OTT officials dictate terms and producers have to listen to them
As of now most of the movies both in the South and in Bollywood are released on digital platforms a few weeks or months after their theatrical release. The sell out cost is mostly decided by the digital platform officials as the producers are desperate to recover their investments. The recovery is more crucial when a big-budget movie like Bade Miyan Chote Miyan tanks badly and producers somehow have to meet the breakeven.
In such cases, the digital platforms dictate terms and payments which eventually production houses have to agree. This certainly is not working in favour of the Indian film industry. Secondly, most of the audience now know that within a few weeks or months, the movie will come on either of the digital platforms and they will get to see it.
That is why a majority of people nowadays avoid going to the theaters and instead prefer watching it on OTT as a result of which even big-budget movies do not get good responses in the theaters.
Aamir Khan’s move can break the monopoly of OTT platforms
But with Aamir Khan ensuring that his upcoming film Sitaare Zameen Par will either be released in theaters or will be available online on a pay-per-view model, either way audience will have to pay money to watch it every time they wish to see it.
Such type of strategy will put the OTT platforms on the back foot and help producers clinch better deals from them. The movie will be available on YouTube PPV and the audience will have to pay every time they want to watch the movie. It requires no subscription. It is indeed a bold step by Aamir Khan which will help to democratize access to content and enhance the revenue as the middlemen will be automatically bypassed.
It also shows the confidence of the Bollywood superstar in his movie. Sitaare Zameen Par hits the theaters on June 20.
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