Made for theatre, Bengali film takes OTT route during lockdown

Non-mainstream movie 'Iye: The

Others, is going to be the first Bengali film which was made for theatres but will be released on OTT platform on next Friday, director Debesh Chatterjee said.

The film, made in 2018, had travelled to several film festivals including Berlin and got the CBFC certificate last year for release in theatres, said Chatterjee, who is known more as a thespian.

"We were supposed to release the film in theatres by this time, but the novel coronavirus and the lockdown have made everything uncertain. It is not known when cinema halls will open again, so we had to think about other options," the director told PTI.

 

He said the film, which is not in the mainstream genre, will be streamed at mycinemahall app from May 22.

All theatres are now closed because of the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

"We cannot wait indefinitely and OTT is the new emerging medium now to reach out to a sizeable audience. We can watch the number of audience by the log-ins and get immediate feedback," Chatterjee said.

Chatterjee said another factor which prompted his decision to go for OTT is that 'Iye: The Others' does not have the backing of any big production house and lots of factors are involved in the production of a film including recovering the costs.

His first film "Natoker Moto: Like a play" was released in theatres in 2015.

On behalf of the mycinemahall app, Yaatric Chakrabratory said they would encourage other independent directors, whose films are being stuck having no sign of release in the near future to choose the OTT platform.

At least five Bollywood films, including Shoojit Sircars big-ticket 'Gulabo Sitabo', are also slated to be released on OTT platforms.