SR Kalyana Mandapam's OTT premiere on aha three weeks within its theatrical release

Much before the pandemic, a good chunk of Telugu films landed on OTT platforms barely three or four weeks into their theatrical releases. Back then though, not many were happy about it. Now, when theatres in the Telugu States are gradually bouncing back to action after the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, this trend has become inevitable for the producers to make profits. SR Kalyana Mandapam, the surprise hit of the season, featuring Kiran Abbavaram (who scripted it and wrote dialogues), Priyanka Jawalkar, Thulasi, Sai Kumar and Tanikella Bharani, will now have its digital premiere on aha on August 27.

SR Kalyana Mandapam, directed and edited by Sridhar Gade, gave hope for a lot of small budget films to try their luck in theatres by registering impressive footfalls right from the day of release. Though the film received mixed reviews and was criticised for being 'crass', they couldn't do much to deter the film's run at the ticket window. A lot of factors came in handy for the film - the fact that it was a full-fledged entertainer with loads of humour, Chaitan Bharadwaj's terrific album that generated good pre-release buzz and of course, the performances.

The success of SR Kalyana Mandapam is certain to help garner many eyeballs for its OTT release across the globe. aha has had a good 2021, bagging hit films like Krack, Naandhi, Zombie Reddy and now SR Kalyana Mandapam. The first film of Kiran Abbavaram, Raja Vaaru Rani Vaaru, is also streaming on aha. With the platform having bagged the streaming rights for Sekhar Kammula's Love Story, Akhil Akkineni's Most Eligible Bachelor and Naga Shaurya's Lakshya, aha's momentum is expected to continue for the second half of the year.

Also read: SR Kalyana Mandapam heads for an August 6 release; watch new teaser