Sitaare Zameen Par: Aamir's film will be released on YouTube directly from the theatre! Understand the advantages and disadvantages from the experts..

There is a fixed formula for releasing a film in Bollywood. First, the film comes in theatres, then after a few weeks, it is released on some OTT platform. But now Aamir Khan is going to break this formula. His next film, 'Sitare Zameen Par', will neither come on any OTT platform after the theatre, nor will it be available for free.

This film will be released directly on YouTube on the pay-per-view (PPV) model. That is, whoever wants to watch it will have to go to YouTube and buy a ticket by paying money. Now the question arises whether this bet will be successful. Or will it prove to be an expensive experiment?

Film producer Anshulika Dubey believes that the Pay-Per-View model is actually like an online box office, but the industry has not taken it seriously yet.

She says, 'While in theatres, the producer gets only Rs 35 on every Rs 100 ticket, in PPV, the producer can get up to 80% of it. But the problem is that our filmmakers are busy only making films; they do not think about business and marketing. The real job of a producer is not only to make a film, but also to become the CEO of that film. Just like launching a mobile or product, the film also has to be sold.'

Small producers are forced to sell on OTT.

Anshulika further says that small producers do not have the budget for a theatre release, so they are forced to sell their films to OTT platforms. But they get money there only once.

If an OTT platform gives them Rs 50 lakh for their film, then they think Let's not take any risk. Now let's focus on the next film.'

This step of Aamir is like a reality check for the industry.

Finally, Anshulika said, 'Aamir has both the money and mindset of marketing. He understands that we are harming our industry. When we say that if you do not buy the ticket, then you can watch it for free after three months. This model is like killing yourself.'

YouTube strategist

YouTube strategist Aditya Kumar believes that this bet is very risky. He said, 'YouTube's pay-per-view model is beneficial for creators because their production cost is low. Making a video, promoting it, and putting ads on it, all the expenses are low expenses. But this model is very risky for films. Especially in an industry like Bollywood, where the cost of films is 50 to 100 crores. In such a situation, it is almost impossible to recover the cost from YouTube views alone.'

The audience hesitates to pay for pay-per-view.

Aditya also raised questions on the popularity of Aamir Khan's channel. He said, 'Aamir Khan's channel has 2 lakh subscribers, which is very less according to his brand value. Trailers or songs can go up to 10-15 million views, but when it comes to watching the entire film on pay-per-view, viewers in India shy away from paying money. People come to YouTube to watch free content, but the habit of pay-per-view has not been formed yet.'

YouTube's negativity affects the image of stars.

Aditya said, 'Direct audience reaction, trolling, memes, and negativity have a big impact on YouTube. All this is filtered through theaters or OTT, but on YouTube, public reaction comes without censorship. This also affects the image of stars. Therefore, this step is a big risk. I think this model will be successful only when there is tremendous curiosity and positive word of mouth about the film.'

The biggest threat of piracy: Rajesh Thadani, distributor

Distributor Rajesh Thadani's concern is also right in its place. He is afraid of piracy of the film. He says, 'Once the film is released in digital format, it becomes easy to piracy. The film gets leaked on sites like Telegram and Torrent in a few hours. This has a big impact on the actual earnings. At least there is control over it in theatres, but it is not so on YouTube.'
However, he also admitted that Aamir Khan has taken this decision after careful consideration, so it is expected that this experiment will prove beneficial.

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