Kollywood’s biggest blockbuster of the year, Jailer, collected solid numbers from its Tamil version. Also, the Telugu version contributed extremely well. If we look at last year’s blockbuster, Vikram, the story is more or less the same as most of the numbers came from the Tamil version. But the Hindi collections of these two films are at the tip of the iceberg compared to their total earnings.

Even a few Telugu films like Nani’s Dasara, Sai Dharam Tej’s Virupaksha, and Vijay Deverakonda’s Kushi didn’t make much noise in the north. Due to the OTT window issue, these biggies have lost a solid chance to strike gold in the Hindi market. Back in 2022, the exhibitors and multiplex associations up north took a resolution that there should be a minimum of an 8-week gap between the theatrical and OTT release of a film.

Tamil and Telugu biggies generally arrive on OTT within four to five weeks of their theatrical release (Event films like RRR are an exception). Multiplex associations in the Hindi belt decided not to screen the Hindi version of those films that don’t adhere to the OTT window gap. Hence, the movies mentioned above weren’t able to get shows in multiplexes, which ultimately took a toll on their collections.

There has always been a discussion about the same in Tollywood, but the less OTT window gap between theatrical and OTT releases isn’t helping the movies. Hindi is a vast market, and we have seen how films like Kantara did magic in Hindi, riding on glowing word of mouth.

Up next, south films like Skanda, Leo, Tiger Nageswara Rao are ready to grace cinemas nationwide in multiple languages, including Hindi. If their OTT window gap adheres to the regulations set by the multiplex associations, only then can we expect big numbers from the north. We need to see how filmmakers down south will tackle this issue from hereon.