Anurag Kashyap on Theatre Owners Being Unhappy with OTT Releases: 'I Haven't Heard That Kind of Discussion For a Movie Like Bamfaad Or Eeb Allay Ooo'

While the debate between theatre chain owners and OTT platforms continues to intensity, Anurag Kashyap recently raised a valid point. The discussion started after the makers of Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana's Gulabo Sitabo decided to have an OTT premiere on Amazon Prime, thereby ditching its theatrical release. While cinema owners felt the producers should have waited for things to come back to normal, the latter insisted that it was their only way out. Vidya Balan Reacts to Shakuntala Devi Releasing on an OTT Platform, Says 'We Have to Look at the Larger Picture'.

And while celebs have strongly suggested how cinemas and digital platforms will continue to co-exist in future, Anurag has a strong case to make for small-budget movies like Bamfaad Or Eeb Allay Ooo. In his recent interaction with India Today, when asked whose side he'd ideally choose in this debate, the filmmaker replied, "When the discussion is happening, discussions are the reactions to movies like Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi, who have big stars in them. I haven't heard that kind of discussion for a movie like Bamfaad Or Eeb Allay Ooo. Nobody is asking where are these films. That's also a very self-serving fight. If you are self-serving, then everybody else has the right to be self-serving. People have to look out for their own recoveries." Goldie Behl Supports Shoojit Sircar for Releasing Gulabo Sitabo on Amazon Prime Video, Says ‘Filmmaker Has Right to Choose the Medium’.

Narrating his own experience of how Ek Tha Tiger had pushed Gangs of Wasseypur out theatres, Kashyap said, "I think both cinema and OTT will co-exist. My thing with the theatre owners is that they think that the films that should have released in theatres and are coming out on OTT, and they are reacting to it. But the thing is when cinemas will open, there will be such a bottleneck of movies, that there will be a struggle. I have suffered when Gangs of Wasseypur was nine days in cinemas and Ek Tha Tiger came out, and the film was doing well, but it was totally thrown out of cinemas."

The filmmaker did raise a valid point that would compel theatre owners to think and rethink about their stand. While producers are definitely keen on having theatrical releases, the current scenario is unstable and unclear at the same time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 04, 2020 11:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).