2018 OTT release date locked? THIS is when Tovino’s film about the Kerala floods is expected to stream

The streaming rights of the Jude Anthany Joseph directorial has been picked up by SonyLiv

A poster of the film

On May 5, Jude Anthany Joseph’s cinematic retelling of the 2018 floods that devastated large parts of Kerala, also called 2018, released in theatres. Although there was some apprehension as to whether the people would want to relive the horrors of the floods onscreen, the film, which has an ensemble cast including Tovino Thomas, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Kunchacko Boban, Aparna Balamurali, Asif Ali, Narain, among many others, has opened to positive feedback, with many lauding it as the ‘Real Kerala Story’ – one of the human spirit of togetherness, resilience and hope.

Read our review: 2018 review: The Kerala story of hope, humanity and resilience, expertly crafted by Jude Anthany Joseph

The film, though, is not just a documentation of all that transpired, and is, instead, a reminder of how people across socio, religious, economic and geographic strata rallied together to help and save those in distress. The film, which was initially meant to be July theatrical release, was advanced to May 5, and, hence, clashed with a movie called The Kerala Story, which, according to the makers is a ‘truthful’ account of the religious indoctrination, conversion and radicalization of thousands of girls from the state. Audiences have been saying that Jude’s 2018 is the film that actually deserved the title The Kerala Story. People have been using the hashtag #TheRealKeralaStory to describe Jude’s film.

The film, produced by Venu Kunnapilly, has been picked up by SonyLiv for the post-theatrical streaming rights and, if reports are to be believed, the streamer will bring 2018 to the platform shortly after the 30th. According to a report, SonyLiv has zeroed in on June 9 as the date to bring the film to audiences. An official confirmation on this is expected shortly, but going by the current trend of even big titles dropping on OTT within a month, it would not be surprising if 2018 does make it to SonyLiv on June 9.

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