The mutually-agreed-upon eight-week window between a film’s theatrical and OTT releases has been working well so far in the coexistence of the two mediums. However, of late, films such as Music School, 8am Metro, Guthlee Ladoo, Jogi Ra Sa Ra Ra, Shiv Shastri Balboa, Coat, Dhak Dhak and the upcoming Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video seem to have been released on the big screen only to eventually facilitate their web release.

The teasers and trailers of these films, too, dropped with just days to go for their releases, with barely any promotions. In some cases, even the release date was decided and announced without any proper planning. Termed ‘token release’, this phenomenon is characterized by films releasing in theatres just so they can be made available for streaming.

With most token releases, films do not wait for the eight-week window and can release on OTT after running in theatres for four weeks. Another reason why OTT giants prefer films to take the theatre route first is to rule out controversies that follow their release. To understand why several films are taking the ‘token release’ route, we talk to trade experts and makers.

OTT platforms are majorly global companies. Given the controversies and legal hassles that we’ve seen with so many shows and films recently, this is thought of as the safest way. If there are any controversies or cases, they will get handled during the theatrical release and the onus would no longer be on the web platforms. This may help them to minimise any legal trouble, cases in point being Adipurush and The Kerala Story. Moreover, now they want to judge the audience’s reaction before taking the film on their platform.

- Atul Mohan, Trade Analyst

With our film, I don’t know why exactly the producers considered it a token release, but yes, we were really heartbroken as a team. We feel that though Dhak Dhak was a limited release, it could have been promoted well. And now that the word of mouth is spreading, we feel hamari baat mein dum toh tha. Agar theek se promote hoti toh zyada logon tak pahunch sakti thi yeh film.

- Tarun Dudeja, Director, Dhak Dhak

Films that are smaller in scale have no other option but to opt for a token theatrical deal because they probably have a pre-buy deal with a web platform and a certain monetisation of their film is already locked. OTT is playing smart because if they buy films for a direct release, they have to create all the noise and undertake marketing. Once they ask the producers to release the film in theatres, the latter has to manage that cost. If the film does well, OTT will cash in, but if it doesn’t, then they can negotiate on a lower rate for the rights. Having said that, it is a very sad trend since the rejection rate at OTT and the box office is very high now.

- Girish Johar, Producer and trade expert

I went to many streaming platforms for my film, but was told by all of them to release it in theatres first and only then could it drop on the web. I knew my film had an audience on digital platforms, but just to fulfil their freaking window, Shiv Shastri Balboa had to be released on the big screen first. We had to put in more money for that and the film didn’t do very well in the theatres but received so much appreciation once it came on OTT.

- Ajayan Venugopalan, Director, Shiv Shastri Balboa