PremiumAs Udal gears up for Saina Play release, here’s why the Durga Krishna thriller took almost 2 years to hit OTT
Dhyan Sreenivasan and Indrans’ dark-thriller Udal’s OTT release date was announced almost 2 years after it hit theatres
Last Updated: 02.54 PM, Jan 04, 2024
Since Udal’s theatrical release in May 2022 and its positive reviews, Malayalam audiences had been eagerly waiting for its makers to drop the movie on OTT. Despite multiple updates from its lead stars Dhyan Sreenivasan, Indrans and Durga Krishna, the film’s OTT release – which is set for January 5 on Saina Play – took almost two years.
OTTplay got in touch with Aashiq Bava, the founder of Saina Play, to know the reason for its delay of the film, which could also be one of the bigger releases to hit the platform in terms of the audience interest.
“A lot of people were waiting for Udal’s OTT release; there were a lot of discussions going on about the movie on film groups in social media. We had also been following up with the team for a long time,” he tells us.
The prime reason for the film’s delay was that its makers were in discussions for the Hindi remake of Udal and hence had decided not to release the movie on any OTT platform for the time being, says Aashiq. “Now that its director Ratheesh Raghunandan’s Thankamani, which has Dileep in the lead, is also set for release, they thought it was time to release the film – which is much-awaited,” he explains. “That’s how we acquired its rights and we are hopeful about the movie because we believe people will pay and watch Udal. That’s the reason we followed up.”
The delay in its OTT release, however, means that the streaming platform also had to spend extra money to restart its promotions as it’s been 17 months since its theatrical release. “If the OTT release of a film is soon after its theatrical release, the streaming platforms can save this expense. Right now, a lot of producers hold on to the streaming rights, hoping for a better deal. But sometimes they don’t come,” he concludes.