PremiumKantara on OTT: Hindi version of Rishab Shetty-starrer to drop on THIS platform
The actor-filmmaker confirmed the streaming partner, but gave no indication when to expect it.
Last Updated: 10.18 AM, Nov 24, 2022
Today, Rishab Shetty’s much-awaited blockbuster Kantara dropped on Amazon Prime Video. The film, though, is available only in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam on the streamer. Kantara was released in Hindi too in theatres, so, obviously, the question that came up was why the Hindi version is not streaming now. Well, it’s because Amazon Prime Video does not have the rights to this version. There have been whispers that Hombale Films, the makers of Kantara, have sold the Hindi rights to Netflix, which Rishab confirmed today when we posed the question. He, however, gave no indication as to when to expect the film on the platform.
Kantara is the latest in the list of Kannada films that is resorting to multiple OTT releases. In the past, 777 Charlie’s Kannada version came on Voot Select, while the other language versions went to Amazon Prime Video’s store, where it continues to be. In fact, 777 Charlie’s Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam versions came on the platform a good two months after the Kannada OTT release. Kiccha Sudeep’s Vikrant Rona’s Kannada version was given to Zee5 Kannada, while the rest went to Disney+Hotstar.
Meanwhile, unaware that Prime Video does not have the streaming rights of Kantara’s Hindi version, fans have been calling for a boycott of the platform, saying that it is being unfair to viewers from the northern belt. Some speculated that the streamer is following the same pattern that it did with Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 777 Charlie, wherein the Hindi versions were available on rental-basis only.
Kantara released on September 30 in Kannada only and became an overnight success. The film was meant to be dubbed in other languages in time for its OTT premiere only, but that changed when demand for release in other centres rose. Within two weeks, the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam versions came out, with Hindi contributing close to Rs 100 crore in its Rs 400 crore world wide box office collections.