No OTT partner for Nagabhushana’s Made in China; to be out on YouTube soon

Made in China was promoted as a pandemic film; one that was shot with the digital conversations of the lead pair – Nagabhushana and Priyanka Thimmesh. The style was reminiscent of the Malayalam film C U Soon, but while that film came out in 2020, amid the pandemic, Made in China came out when life was back to normal. So, a story about a man’s lockdown and quarantine tales had pretty much lost its charm by then.

Directed by Preetham Thegginamane, Made in China is about Nagabhushana's character, after he is stranded in China while on a business trip following the first breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with no means to return home. If the lockdown wasn’t bad enough for him, he is also mentally burdened by the fact that his heavily-pregnant wife, played by Priyanka Thimmesh, is expecting their child any day, without him by her side. How they deal with this situation through their virtual communications forms the crux of the narrative.

First announced as a March 2022 release, Made in China was then pushed ahead and eventually came out in June last year. The film did not create any waves at the box office and vanished without a trace. In the months since, the team was also unable to strike a deal with mainstream OTT platforms, so it is now headed to the official YouTube channel of Crystal Music, which is part of Crystal Paark Cinemas, the co-producers of the film.

Made in China is not the only film that has failed to secure a digital rights deal. There are several others from 2021 and 2022 that are waiting to be picked up. But sources tell us that most mainstream OTT platforms that do acquire Kannada films have a freeze on getting new titles until the next financial year.