Ante Sundaraniki, a hit on OTT: Where were these audiences during its theatrical release?

In a promotional event earlier this week, legendary filmmaker K Raghavendra Rao called the OTT space a ‘devil’ that’s usurping small and medium budget films. In a generation where a majority says ‘I’d rather watch that film on OTT’, it’s becoming a challenge to draw crowds to theatres. Filmmaking has indeed become an unpredictable business, more than ever before. No star or director, regardless of their track record, can be sure of their film having the legs to last at the theatres for even three weeks.

For instance, the commercial failure of Ante Sundaraniki, starring Nani and Nazriya Fahadh, has come as a shocker to many. The film was well-promoted, featured prominent stars, was progressive, relatively light-hearted, had all the qualities of an entertainer that would appease mainstream audiences and earned critical acclaim but none of these factors could translate into impressive footfalls. The excessive ticket pricing, the three-hour runtime, absence of chartbuster numbers were blamed for its abysmal performance at box office.

However, the response to the OTT premiere of Ante Sundaraniki, on Netflix, tells a different story. Many audiences who couldn’t catch the film at the theatres have lavished praise on Nani’s script choices, the performances, mature treatment of a sensitive theme and said it made for ideal family viewing. It’s gratifying that the Vivek Athreya directorial is getting its due on OTT. However the contrasting responses at the theatres and OTT raises an important question – whom does the creator make the film for? Is it high time one makes practical decisions about the medium of release?

While Telugu audiences constantly crib about the absence of meaningful, progressive films and the need to venture out to other languages for better content, it’s extremely disheartening when attempts like Ante Sundaraniki are rejected. Though the film is gaining popularity on OTT, quality cinema can be a reality if only the audiences can patronise films at the theatres while buying a ticket. As much as we say Ante Sundaraniki is a good film after its OTT premiere, the industry’s lifeline is the theatrical business. The industry swears by its box-office stats and you know what to do if you’re a true film connoisseur.

Filmmakers, on their part, too need to stop being greedy with the ticket prices and shouldn’t give audiences another reason to skip theatrical viewing. While we understand that you have suffered a lot during the pandemic, increasing ticket prices as per your whims and fancies for every second film is only likely to dissuade an already shrinking theatre-going audience from heading out.

Enjoy Ante Sundaraniki on Netflix now, but the next time you hear that a Telugu film is good, make the effort to go to the theatres and savour it on the big screen. It’s time we didn’t see tweets like ‘Oh why didn’t the film do well in theatres? I loved it on OTT.’

(The film, produced by Y Ravi Shankar and Naveen Yerneni under Mythri Movie Makers, also stars Rohini, Naresh, Nadhiya, Aruna Bhikshu, Rahul Ramakrishna, Anupama Parameswaran and Harshavardhan.)