Madhura Manohara Moham, Amala star Rajisha Vijayan: OTTs don’t provide a safety net anymore

Rajisha Vijayan is one of the few actresses to have starred in direct-to-OTT films in both Tamil and Malayalam, and also have had a slew of theatrical releases post-pandemic. Her latest movies Madhura Manohara Moham and Amala, both of which will hit theatres on June 16, marks her fourth and fifth releases this year.

With majority of the movies have released in Malayalam this year failing to create an impact at the box office, the actress, in an exclusive chat with OTTplay, says that the situation right now is that even if a movie has good content, it doesn’t necessarily have to do well at the box office.

Also read: Rajisha Vijayan: The sibling dynamics in Madhura Manohara Moham is different from previous Malayalam cinema tropes 

Ask her if this has anything to do with movies now being made on a limited budget and looking at OTTs as a revenue channel instead of a theatrical release, and the actress explains, “I don’t think the safety net provided by OTTs is there anymore. It was there for a very short time, right after the boom of OTT during the pandemic. That was the time when OTTs also wanted films and we didn’t know of any other release platform apart from theatres then. All we knew was if we were making a movie, it had to be released in theatres. So, during the brief time, OTTs wanted to take our films and theatres too.”

The actress further adds that OTT platforms now have the leverage, as they can pick the content they want. “Now, every film, which works in theatres, also has to release on OTT platforms. It’s not like, ‘If yours is a theatrical release, why would you release the movie on OTT?’ Right now, the streaming platforms know that they don’t have to reach out to us for films. So, the safety net doesn’t exist anymore.”

Meanwhile, director Rahul Riji Nair, who had helmed two of Rajisha’s movies post pandemic – Kho Kho and Keedam – is now spearheading Malayalam web series for two OTT platforms: Disney+ Hotstar’s Kerala Crime Files and Sony LIV’s Jai Mahendran.

Does Rajisha, who has starred in direct-to-OTT releases Jai Bhim and Freedom Fight, have plans for web series debut anytime soon? “I have been having discussions and have gone through pitch decks. It’s not like I am not interested, but as of now I haven’t confirmed anything,” she concludes.