Kurukkan’s Shine Tom Chacko: There should be a gap of at least six months between a film’s theatrical and OTT release

Popular Malayalam actor Shine Tom Chacko, whose responses during interviews often seem to be making the rounds on social media, recently expressed his opinion about films streaming on social media soon after their theatrical release.

According to Shine, viewers refrain from going to the cinemas, because movies start streaming on OTT soon after they are released on the big screen. He said that a film should be made available on a digital platform only after a period of six months after its theatrical release. Otherwise, it would amount to sawing off the branch on which one is sitting.

Speaking during an interview with Movie World Media, Shine spoke in Malayalam that roughly translates to, “Look at the government-run Doordarshan. Movies are streamed there only after a certain period of time. That gap is very important to draw the audience to the theatres.”

The actor also spoke about the audience’s mindset, as they tend to wait for a film to be released on OTT, regardless of whether or not the movie is a hit. “Nowadays, movies come on OTT platforms within three weeks of their release in the theatres. So naturally, people would think twice before going to the cinemas. They feel that it is unnecessary, because the content will be available to them on OTT within a short time. They would avoid a trip to theatres, even if the movie is a big hit. So literally, we are sawing off the branch on which we are sitting,” he elaborated.

Meanwhile, Kurukkan, helmed by Jayalal Divakaran, is Sine’s latest film in the theatres. It marks the reunion of Sreenivasan and Vineeth Sreenivasan on screen, after Aravindante Athidhikal. Kurukkan is an investigative drama, laced with comedy. The film also stars Sudheer Karamana, Gowri Nandha, Srikant Murali and Sruthy Jayan.