2018 on OTT: Tovino Thomas’ hit disaster drama gets an early start; now available to stream

The Jude Anthany Joseph directorial, which released in theatres on May 5 and has become the highest grossing Malayalam movie, is now on Sony LIV

2018 poster

When news of a Malayalam film about the 2018 Kerala floods came, there was some apprehension as to whether audiences in the state were ready to relive the horrors of that devastating natural disaster as an onscreen adaptation. Turns out, they were more than ready, with audiences across the globe welcoming the film wholeheartedly because director Jude Anthany Joseph’s 2018 was not just about the torrential rain, how Kerala was almost completely submerged or the losses suffered in terms of lives and belongings. His film was also a retelling of how people across socio, economic and religious sections came together to help each other out in this time of adversity.

Boasting an ensemble cast led by Tovino Thomas, the film, also starring Kunchacko Boban, Aparna Balamurali, Tanvi Ram, Siddique, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Asif Ali, Lal, Narain, among many others, and with music by Nobin Paul was an instant hit at the box office. Released in Malayalam only initially, the team had to also bring the Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi versions to theatres later on. While the Telugu version has done good business in its limited run, the bulk of 2018’s industry hit status collections have come from the Malayalam original.

Read also: 2018 OTT release: Kerala theatres allege breach of contract, to go on strike for 2 days, tickets to be refunded

And here's our review: 2018 review: The Kerala story of hope, humanity and resilience, expertly crafted by Jude Anthany Joseph

However, despite this good run in theatres, the team’s pre-release deal with its OTT partner meant that it had to be on the streamer shortly after the 30-day mark. June 7 was announced as the date when 2018 would drop on Sony Liv with Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi audio options and the streamer, has now gone ahead and given it an early start. The film is already available on the platform, much to the chagrin of exhibitors in Kerala, who have decided to shut theatres for two days (June 7 and 8), to protest against pre-release OTT deals that result in films being available to stream within weeks of its theatrical release.

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