It is now a well-established truth that streaming platforms are deciding release dates of big-ticket movies. Even movies of Pawan Kalyan are not exempted from this.
The buzz in the town is that Kuberaa's release date was decided not by its producers but by Amazon Prime Video. Producer Suniel Narang himself stated that he preferred a July release. But Prime Video threatened to slash OTT rights value by Rs 10 crore if June 20 was not agreed upon. This is the reason the Dhanush-Nagarjuna movie didn't get postponed even after Hari Hara Veera Mallu chose June 12 (HHVM's release has since been called off).
The rank inefficiency of the film industry is there for all to see. If they can't come together, sit at a place and discuss what can be done to dethrone Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, nobody else is going to do that. Petty egos will always come into play, especially in Tollywood, where everything becomes a matter of dispute, verbal duels, and sensational headlines. From MAA elections to theatre shutdown calls, everything in Telugu cinema is prone to petty controversies, ego tussles and stalemates. Producers don't have unity. Heroes will never reduce their fee. OTT platforms, which offer entertainment at a fraction of the cost at which theatres offer, seem to be morally superior in this equation.
