Actor Pooja Hegde is happy that amid the uncertainty that the Coronavirus pandemic brought along, her latest Telugu film managed to have a theatrical release. The movie, Most Eligible Bachelor, starring Hegde alongside actor Akhil Akkineni, managed to rake in the moolah at the box office, as well.

Calling it their “first win”, Hegde says, “Kudos to the producers for having faith [in releasing the film in the cinemas]. They had their own streaming platform; it is so easy to give in and release the film on OTT. But they had faith in the film. Releasing a film in theatres today is very different. It’s great that they held on to it. It brought back people to watch a film in theatres,” feels the 31-year-old.

Ask her if she feels that releasing a film theatrically has become more like a privilege, given the uncertainty, and she feels otherwise. “I feel it is an option. You need to know what will bring people to the theatres. If you feel taking an OTT deal is better, that’s your call. As artistes, we have different things that make us happy. We have different goals, compared to the producers. I feel the reach of OTT is great, but there are some films you need to watch on the big screen, it’s just the energy in the room,” says the Mohenjo Daro (2016) actor.

Hegde feels catching a movie at a theatre requires a plan and an outing, and the experience cannot be replicated at home. “You watch the film and immerse yourself into that world. You laugh a little and forget everything else. That’s something the theatre can do. I do feel that watching a film in a theatre today is a privilege,” says the actor.

Hegde is currently on a professional high, with major films, such as Cirkus with actor Ranveer Singh, Radhe Shyam with Bahubali star Prabhas, and Bhaijaan with actor Salman Khan, among others, in her kitty. Happy with the way things are for her, professionally, she says, “The industry has led me to the right place. I selected the right scripts. Somewhere, it all paid off.”