Prithvi Konanur pushes Hadinelentu ahead: Hope to have a presenter on board soon, he says

The Pinki Elli? maker says that an OTT release is better for film festival movies like his, but market dynamics make theatrical outings a must

A still from Hadinelentu

A few weeks ago, it seemed that filmmaker Prithvi Konanur was looking at having not one but two of his film festival darling movies – Pinki Elli? and Hadinelentu - in theatres in quick succession. While Pinki Elli? a film about a child who is trafficked for begging and then goes missing, released earlier this month, Hadinelentu, which takes a hard look at cast and gender divide when a sex video made by two teenagers is leaked and goes viral, was to be in theatres this Friday (June 23). That plan stands changed, Prithvi tells us.

“To be honest, I was never keen on giving any of my films a theatrical outing, because I believe they are better suited for OTT consumption and will get their due there. But market dynamics are such that a theatrical release is a must for platforms to even consider your film. That is the only reason I was looking at bringing Hadinelentu to theatres. However, we are currently in talks with someone who is in a position to present the film and give it a much wider audience than we could and if everything falls in place, we will release the film by November or so,” says Prithvi, adding, “For filmmakers like us, bringing people to theatres is a challenge, so having someone present our film will be a boon. Once it comes on OTT, it is a different story; a good film will get its audience, once word-of-mouth publicity spreads.”

How was his theatrical experience with Pinki Elli? “Very bad. We didn’t have any organic reach for the film. Within our circles, friends and friends of friends, film buffs, etc. watched the film, otherwise, our audience mostly those that we had invited to a special screening,” he says. But Prithvi is quick to add that he and his team are also to blame for this, as there was absolutely no marketing done prior to the release. “What we do within our niche circles is not going to reach people. It has to have some visibility, like, for instance, in the media or even posters, for that matter. With Pinki Elli? not even a single poster was used. I’m not saying that it would have made much of a difference, but it would have perhaps helped in a little way. Also, the larger picture is that without a big star or budget, it is not easy to market a film,” he says.

So, what is the status of Pinki Elli? as far as getting it a digital partner goes? “Both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video showed interest initially, but the former withdrew when they realized that we don’t have the global rights. The producer only held the south Asia rights, which meant that Netflix would have to geo-lock it to only India, which was not feasible for them. Prime Video, meanwhile, made an offer for pay-per-view, wherein they pay a certain amount for streaming minutes. We are hopeful of striking a deal,” says Prithvi.

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