Kalki OTT premiere deferred, back in theatres for holidays

With both 'Double iSmart' and ‘Mr Bachchan’ failing to draw crowds, distributors released Prabhas starrer ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ in over 60-odd theatres in the two Telugu states and made some money too. “With ‘Mr Bachchan’ and ‘Double iSmart’ collections going bad to worse, worried distributors screened ‘Kalki’ and found some collections since 5-day holiday going wasted,” says a distributor and adds, “With ticket rate Rs 100 per head for Kalki, audience thronged theatres and enjoyed the sci=fi thriller in many centres and showing footfalls at many single screens.”

Actually, Nag Aswhin's directorial was supposed to hit OTT during August 15, but the makers deferred it to August 22 since audience are still coming to theaters to watch it. “Digital premier was deferred to help distributors to make some money in this long weekend which was otherwise dull and disastrous,” he adds.

With new releases failing to attract crowds, distributors, who made Rs 6 crores by re-releasing Mahesh Babu's' Murari', are now waiting for the re-release of megastar Chiranjeevi blockbuster ‘Indra’ on August 22. “Superstars re-releases are helping us to earn some money otherwise it would be very difficult for exhibitors and distributors in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to survive,” he concludes.