Aamir Khan left everyone shocked as he decided to release his film ‘Sitaare Zameen Par on YouTube through a pay-per-view model. Priced at ₹100 per watch, the film was available on Youtube. Aamir admitted in an interview that he rejected an offer from a leading OTT platform to have the streaming rights of the film. He was offered Rs 120 crore. In a recent interview, Aamir opened up on his decision and the issues he had with the OTT streaming of the film. When asked if he was not scared to decline the streaming rights and such a big offer and release on Youtube, the actor said during a chat with Komal Nahta on Game Changers, “I got scared while releasing it on OTT. A lot of producers started selling movies on OTT too soon. I don’t want to blame people as their money was stuck. I realised our business is getting even smaller. It’s not that they’re not watching the film but they are not watching in theatres. The window for OTT release is very short. That effects your business. That’s not good in the long run.”He recalled how filmmakers, under pressure to recover mounting costs during the COVID-19 delays, sold films directly to OTT platforms. “I don’t want to blame anyone because their money was stuck. Not everyone can afford to wait this long,” he clarified.Interestingly, this wasn’t Aamir’s first brush with the idea. “I remember I’d thought of releasing my films on pay-per-view back in 2011 after 3 Idiots,” he said. But back then, the tech wasn’t user-friendly. “They didn’t have as much as YouTube, but there was enough reach. But the payment facility wasn’t very smooth. As per their system, you had to call on a number, then stay on hold for half an hour, then increase the balance in your phone to access the film. No one can watch a film like that,” he explained.When asked about the business of the film on Youtube, Aamir said, “”I can’t say the exact numbers because it’s their policy and I want to respect that. But I can jus say that, pay per view is a nascent model in India but normally the kind of business it makes, it has made 20 times more than that. So, ek tarah se agar aap dekhein, we have got 20 times more than the usual. But if you just say numbers, if you ask me if its worth that you leave Rs 125 crore, then that’s not worth it.” However, Aamir feels it’s a success for him that people are aware about it and know it’s available for them on Youtube, so it’s growing every day. Looking at the larger picture, Aamir highlighted the need to expand theatrical reach in India. “3 to 3.5 crore, about two to three percent of our population watch movies in theatres. What about the rest of them? We have a 140 crore population, but even if I restrict it to the Hindi-speaking population, we aren’t being able to reach even them,” he said.Aamir also revealed that the offer from an OTT platform was tempting. He said, “Agar main Rs 125 crore le lu toh mera cost bhi cover ho jaata aur profit bhi kamaa leta. Uske baad theatre bhi pura profit hai. It was a tempting offer. I gave them the profit and removed them from the deal. I had to take risk on myself. It was a move which I strongly felt for. I felt, we have to do something for the industry to come back.” Further explaining his decision, he said, “My attempt was, we should keep the window longer. If the film is good, it should run in theatres. In other countries, there’s pay-per view model only after theatrical release. But it was not in India.” The number of OTT platforms, collectively also have an audience number of 4,5 crore. Youtube has 55 crore people coming everyday. So, I felt that logically speaking, this is the route I want to follow.The actor also spoke about his wish to build more theatres across the country, especially beyond metros. “So I wanted to increase the number of theatres in India. But that takes time, that takes licenses. Now, we’re also talking to the government to make the process of opening theatres more convenient. I feel we can do with more theatres, not in the cities where they’re already there, but at least one in every district. I feel there’s a scope for theatres, and that business will go deeper and deeper. But if there aren’t enough theatres now, then what?” Go to Source
