Veera Simha Reddy out on OTT: Will it surpass Akhanda’s viewership on Disney+ Hotstar?

The box office battle for Sankranthi 2023 between Chiranjeevi’s Waltair Veerayya and Balakrishna’sVeera Simha Reddy was fierce. While the former may’ve had the upper hand at the ticket window, the Balakrishna starrer managed to be a profitable venture for the distributors and the exhibitors too. Shruti Haasan played the female lead in both films bankrolled by Mythri Movie Makers.

Much like the theatrical releases of both the films, Veera Simha Reddy is arriving ahead of Waltair Veerayya on OTT. Disney+ Hotstar has acquired the streaming rights of Balakrishna’s film, with latter, set to land on Netflix. Veera Simha Reddy has arrived today on Hotstar and four days later, Chiranjeevi’s action entertainer comes to Netflix (February 27).

The similarities between Waltair Veerayya and Veera Simha Reddy don’t end there. The directors of both films, Gopichand Malineni and Bobby Kolli, had collaborated for Balupu, after which Bobby got to direct his first film Power (Ravi Teja). Both were closely associated with Kona Venkat in their initial years. No wonder, they hoped for each other’s films to do well at the time of their release.

Meanwhile, Disney+ Hotstar is turning out to be lucky mascot for Balakrishna. His earlier blockbuster, Akhanda, broke several viewership records during its OTT premiere in 2022 and was appreciated by viewers across regions. The streamer would be hoping something similar with Veera Simha Reddy as well. Duniya Vijay, Kannada star, forayed into Telugu cinema with the actioner.

Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Naveen Chandra, Ravi Shankar and Honey Rose essayed other important roles in Veera Simha Reddy. Edited by Navin Nooli, the film had cinematography by Rishi Punjabi and music by S Thaman. Most of the songs from the film, including Jai Balayya, Maa Bava Manobhavalu, turned out to be a hit with music buffs. The film will stream in multiple languages on OTT.