What’s the point of this release?

Trade analysts were shocked when one of the earliest Telugu films to have released after lockdown, Solo Brathuke So Better, headed to OTT within a week of its theatrical release. Soon, the reduced window between theatrical release and OTT premiere became normal as Vijay’s Sankranti release Master too opened on streaming platforms in 16 days. Last week’s release, Gaali Sampath is taking a similar route and will be streaming on OTT platform Aha from this Friday.

However, there’s a world of difference between Gaali Sampath and Solo Brathuke..’s scenario. Gaali Sampath team knew it wouldn’t be easy for them to clash with Sreekaram and Jathi Ratnalu and still opted for a theatrical release. If their idea was to release the film on OTT within a week, shouldn’t Anil Ravipudi and team have more cautious and opted for a direct-to-OTT release instead?

The film hardly had any star power beyond Rajendra Prasad and couldn’t attract crowds. Had Gaali Sampath thought of OTT before, it would have saved them the embarrassment at theatres and possibly earned better reviews too. Makers should be practical while there are multiple releases, especially in times when OTT is a convenient/safe option. One hopes Gaali Sampath proves to be a good lesson for small-budget films in the future. Gaali Sampath, directed by Anish, also features Sree Vishnu, Lovely Singh in pivotal roles.