News of actor Kartik Aaryan’s Freddy and actor Vicky Kaushal’s Govinda Naam Mera ditching a theatrical release and instead opting for an over-the-top (OTT) premiere has left industry insiders perplexed. They are now expecting that more projects backed by big names might also take the same route as makers are finding the digital space safer over the big screens for the success of their projects.

Even actors Sidharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna’s Mission Majnu and actor Rakul Preet Singh’s Chhatriwali are expected to get OTT releases. This comes after several Bollywood films including Thank God, Double XL, Phone Bhoot, Doctor G and Mili failed to elicit a favourable response at the box office this year.

Speaking on this change in trend, trade expert-producer Girish Johar says no one in the Indian film fraternity is sure of what will work right now in theatres and so the lack of confidence. “Coming to the box office and getting validation needs a lot of muscle now. I think they (audience) do not find it (going to theatres) worth the effort, and choose OTT as it is economical,” he says.

Meanwhile, trade expert Atul Mohan thinks that opting for the OTT space is a very calculated move by makers. He explains, “If makers feel a film will tank at the box office but will recover the cost of production on an OTT platform instead, they go for it. Because after release, if the film flops, the OTT and satellite deal also gets affected.” He also points out that this trend is working in favour of the streaming platforms as well, because they are getting more star power to pull in subscribers.

However, trade expert Taran Adarsh is worried with the new trend. “I am unable to understand why films are going to OTT when things have reopened after two years. I think makers find these films OTT-friendly. It’s strange because these projects have big names attached to them,” he says.