Post Sushant Singh Rajput’s Drive Row, Actors To Add A ‘No Digital Release’ To Ensure Exclusive Theatrical Release

The trend of OTT content is ever-increasing and so are cases in which the movies made for a theatrical release directly arrived for online viewing. Recently, Sushant Singh Rajput-Jaqueline Fernandez starrer Drive met such an unfortunate fate and looks like the Chhichhore actor is very upset due to its direct release on Netflix.

It is begin speculated that it is this very reason that Sushant has been shying away from promoting Netflix’s Drive. It is also learned that the actor tried convincing the makers for a theatrical release but Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions stayed with their decision after going through the final outcome.

Shedding some light on the issue, a source from the industry has backed this practical decision. While speaking to Bollywood Hungama the source has said, “At the scripting stage, it becomes difficult for producers at times to know how the film will ultimately shape up. At times, they believe the script has potential and there are times when they refuse to see the reality and end up approving a bad script. It’s only when they see the final product do they realize that they have created a bad film that can entail losses. Earlier, a producer would have no choice but now, OTT platforms are giving them a chance to recover the costs.”

The same was to take place in case of Saif Ali Khan’s Baazaar as it wasn’t getting any buyers for a theatrical release but after Saif gained tremendous popularity with Sacred Games, Viacom18 Motion Motion Pictures signed a deal. It has been learned that Saif too was keen on a theatrical release only for Baazaar.

The latest development on the issue states that the actors from now onwards will add a ‘no digital release’ clause in their agreement, thus squashing the chances of direct arrival of a movie on the OTT platforms. “From now on, most of the major and mid-level actors will add a ‘no digital release’ clause in their contracts when they want to do a film. It simply means that the producer will be legally bound to release the film in cinemas and not straightaway on Netflix or Amazon Prime, failing which the actor can sue the producer,” the source adds.

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