Ponniyin Selvan now on Amazon Prime, but at ₹199 extra; not many are pleased

Director Mani Ratnam’s period drama Ponniyan Selvan-1 landed on OTT last weekend, but subscribers had to fork out an additional ₹199 to watch the film.

The magnum opus, which had released in theatres on September 30, did roaring business at the box-office and crossed ₹250 crore on its third week. Based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s novel, the film, through some rich visual storytelling, revolves around the ruling family of the Chola dynasty and the palace intrigue and rebellions by local chieftains they have to deal with, in the backdrop of Emperor Sundara Chola’s failing health. Ponniyan Selvan-1 (PS-1) had picked up a lot of critical acclaim as well.

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So, cinephiles and fans were eager to catch this well-crafted, visually spectacular film on OTT. On Friday (October 28), PS-1 dropped on Amazon Prime but there was a catch: the film was available only under its ‘Early Access’ movie rental feature, which means Prime members have to shell out an extra ₹199 to watch the film either in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada or Malayalam. The film will only stream free for Prime members from November 4.

Prime Early Access, which was launched this May, is “an extension” of the OTT channel’s offerings, which provides customers early access to the latest Indian and international hit movies for rentals before digital subscription, said a press release from Amazon Prime. Interestingly, Netflix does not have this feature.

Producers, exhibitors unhappy 

While Amazon Prime subscribers are understandably peeved, producers, filmmakers and exhibitors are also unhappy with this yet another OTT revenue model. An upset R Panneerselvam, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners’ Association, told The Federal that the OTT release has effectively killed PS-1 in theatres. “Ponniyan Selvan-1 was doing extremely well in theatres. But the collections have been dropping since Friday,” he pointed out gloomily.

“It’s true exhibitors had agreed to the four-week window for movies to be released on OTT. But, when a film is doing so well, the producer should have given it more time in theatres,” said Pannerselvam. He also gave the example of how Baahubali’s producers had refused to release their film on OTT until they had made all their money.

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According to T Siva, general secretary of the Tamil Film Active Producers Association, OTT platforms are resorting to these additional revenue models to recover their costs. “The digital price of films has shot up to almost ₹150 crore. How can Amazon Prime then recover its costs? They can charge whatever they want since the audience is tempted to watch it from the comfort of their homes,” argued Siva.

Of late, big budget films are being sold for huge amounts to OTT. Though it is difficult to quote the exact price PS-1 would have fetched, Tamil film trade sources said it was purportedly sold for over ₹125 crore. (The new Vijay – Lokesh Kanagaraj film, which is yet to go on the floors, has been sold for ₹150 crore, said Siva, who is, however, still waiting to hear from OTT platforms for his new ₹22 crore film helmed by actors Arun Vijay and Vijay Anthony.)

Also read: The big battle to get small regional films released on OTT

Paneerselvam also pointed out that OTT platforms, which are not going to recover their investments through subscription fees only, are turning to extra revenue models. Interestingly, many old films are available for rent for ₹199 on YouTube and Google Play as well.

Producers of these big budget films, too, are keen to recover their costs and willing to go along with the demands by OTTs. The producer may or may not have a share in Amazon Prime’s additional revenue model.

Unmatchable theatrical experience

Kannada film director Jayatheertha (2019 comedy drama Bell Bottom), whose new film Banaras is all set to release on November 4, felt that if one is shelling out ₹199 to view a film on OTT, one may as well pay the same amount and watch it in a theatre. Watching a film with Dolby sound and 4K visuals in a theatre is a much better cinematic experience, he said. But then, OTT allows an entire family — or any other group of people — to watch a film for ₹199.

“OTTs will lose their credibility with this kind of additional revenue model,” added Jayatheertha.

Pointing out that South Indian content is currently sought after in Bollywood and by OTT companies, he confirmed that he has not sold his new film as yet. “Banaras has a new hero (Congress MLA’s son), Zaid Khan. Unless it is a Dhanush or a Yash, we are not able to sell to OTT before the film’s release. OTTs will watch how the film performs in theatres before signing a deal with us,” said Jayatheertha. However, he preferred a one-and-a-half-month gap before his new film appeared on OTT.

Meanwhile, actor producer Pramod Shetty, who starred in the super successful Kannada film Kantara, felt this OTT revenue model is pointless if the film is doing well in theatres. “These additional revenue models are pointless. Kantara has been sold to Amazon Prime and we have an agreement with them that the film will be released after a 50-day gap,” Shetty told The Federal.

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The film is still doing roaring business in the US, the UK and Dubai, so it will be a loss for the producer if it is released on some early access rental model, he said.

Also, as an artist, he would want the film to be preferably enjoyed on the big screen. “The scale of the film, the lavishness of its production can be better enjoyed in theatres,” gushed Shetty. Kantara has so far completed 30 days in theatres and will come on OTT only after another 20 days, provided the producer does not ask for a 10-15 day extension, added Shetty, who is unsure if the film will be released on Amazon Prime through the Early Access model. 

Amazon’s Early Access feature

KGF-2, Mahesh Babu’s political drama Sarkaru Vaari Paata, Ajay Devgn’s Runway 34, and Kannada movie 777 Charlie were also released through Amazon Prime’s Early Access Movie Rentals. According to a press release from Amazon Prime, this feature showcases titles beyond the ones available with Prime Subscription to increase “selection and choice” for customers.

Customers get a 48-hour window to complete the film once playback is initiated. For Runaway 34, Ajay Devgn also added some previously unreleased footage from the film when it premiered in the Movie Rentals section. However, platforms like Zee5, which released the highly successful Telugu film Kartikeya, streamed it for free for its subscribers from day one.

Exhibitors are feeling the pinch of the emergence of these new additional revenue models.

Paneerselvam, who owns Rohini theatre in Chennai, rued that theatre revenues are being hit. Though they had agreed to the four-week gap for films after theatrical release to stream on OTT, the exhibitors are now clamouring to increase this gap to eight weeks.

“Bollywood is already planning to do this, we are also going to insist on an eight-week gap, otherwise we will not release these films in theatres. We realise we cannot compete with advancements in technology but what is our share in all this? We are already paying 70 per cent share to distributors, running theatres on the remaining 30 per cent is not profitable for us,” pointed out Paneerselvam.

The movie business is clearly going through a churn with more and more players wanting to grab a slice of the growing pie.