Salman Khan's 'Radhe' release strategy ― a tough decision in tough times, may emerge as case study

Poster of Salman Khan’s film 'Radhe' (Image courtesy: Zee Studios)

Salman Khan's Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai is keeping up its Eid promise for May 13. Besides arriving in theatres wherever it can, the action entertainer by Prabhudeva will see a release on ZEE’s pay-per-view service ZEEPlex and leading DTH operators like Dish, D2H, Tata Sky and Airtel Digital TV.

Ever since ZEE Studios made the announcement, it has caused in déjà vu. Why? There were debates even last year when Gulabo Sitabo became the first major film to see an OTT release. Hence, it's not a surprising scenario now.

Considering the fact that this is a Salman Khan film, multiplexes and single screens were waiting for almost a year for the flick to arrive at their properties. After all, that would have set the tone for the box office all over again. Since they had waited patiently so far already, they didn't mind waiting even longer. Of course, it was pretty much given a couple of weeks ago that the situation would be far away from optimal on May 13. However, the hope was that Radhe may be pushed further ahead by a few months, but still release only in theatres.

Though, the question was: for how much longer?

After all, Radhe has seen a really high acquisition price going for it (said to be in the upwards of Rs 200 crore). While the deal was signed and sealed a long time back, eventually it had to be executed as well in order to get the moolah rolling. The manner in which the pandemic is showing its ugly face currently, it would be foolhardy to put any date around when would the situation may return to normalcy. COVID-19 cases need to start dropping, vaccination programme needs to accelerate from May 1, recovery rate needs to get better and only after that one can think of normalcy.

In such a scenario, further delaying of Radhe (or for that matter any other major film) would not have really made sense. In the times when practically every industry is suffering in some way or the other, we can't expect the supply chain of the film business to remain unaffected. This is the same industry which saw its best ever time in 2019 with Rs 4,400 crore coming in from just the theatrical business of Hindi films. Everyone earned back then, and now when the chips are down, there would certainly be losses as well.

It all boils down to what's the quantum of loss that different stakeholders would suffer, be it the producers, distributors, exhibitors, acquisition partners or others. A decision has to be eventually taken, especially by the producers who hold the rights of a film and eventually have their money at stake. The adage of 'put your mouth where the money is', suits the loudest of them. Hence, when push comes to shove and uncertainty looms large, a tough call is to be taken, something that Khan and ZEE Studios have taken.

To think of it, this would not have been easy for Khan either. Other than the fact that huge money was at stake (which some thought could have been a lower priority considering his rich superstar status), the fact remains that he is a person for the masses. Any star gets sheer thrills by watching hundreds of fans cheering for him at a theatre and here it would all be at a small screen. On the other hand, even ZEE Studios would have expected record breaking opening and then some terrific footfalls coming in, hence allowing them to make great box office profits.

However, for now, it is about not thinking on the lines of ‘what could have been obvious’ in the pre-COVID-19 era and instead brace for ‘what could possibly be done’ to make the most of the situation arising and leverage technology. The year gone by has done one good thing to the world of entertainment and that's opening up the OTT platform like never before. With pay-per-view service expected to find a boost with Radhe, at least a newer avenue is expected to come up.

As for those wondering if this would turn out to be the future of the entertainment business, that's really farfetched. It is always about 'more the avenues, more the opportunities'. Theatrical business has its own charm and rest assured, films could continue to bloom all over again on the big screen.

However, until that resumes, it only makes sense for some part of the supply chain to keep the business going. Even if it means that Radhe releases in a hybrid manner, at the least it would act as a case study for things to follow. Let's acknowledge that.