Producers Guild justifies release of films on OTT platform amid COVID-19 lockdown

After the makers of Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana starrer ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ and Vidya Balan's Shakuntala Devi  decided to release their films on OTT paltforms the Producers Guild of India has now released a statement justifying the move by saying that they need to stay in business. Meanwhile, The Guild called INOX's statement "abrasive and unconstructive. For the unversed, after producers of Gulabo Sitabo decided to stream the movie on Amazon Prime, INOX theatres expressed displeasure on the idea.

Expressing disappointment, Producers’ Guild slammed INOX for criticising OTT film releases in their statement, without naming them. “It is disappointing to see abrasive and unconstructive messaging from some of our colleagues in the exhibition sector. Statements that call for “retributive measures” against producers who decide to take their movies direct to OTT platforms - especially at a time when cinemas as unfortunately closed for the foreseeable future – do not lend themselves to a constructive or collaborative dialogue on the way forward for the industry,” read an official statement by the Producer’s Guild of India. The Producers Guild of India's statement comes a day after multiplex chain INOX called the release of films directly on OTT disappointing.

After ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, Vidya Balan starrer ‘Shakuntala Devi’ is the newest addition to the list of films releasing on OTT. Directed by Anu Menon, the biopic was scheduled to hit the screens in May 2020. On the other hand speculations are rife that  Akshay Kumar’s ‘Laxmmi Bomb’, Abhishek Bachchan’s ‘Ludo’, Janhvi Kapoor’s ‘Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Ananya Panday and Ishaan Khatter’s ‘Khali Peeli’ are also eyeing a digital release amidst the coronavirus crisis.

Statement from Producers Guild of India pic.twitter.com/WCeX3zMlsh

— producersguildindia (@producers_guild) May 15, 2020