Varanasi OTT Deal: Is the Multiple Platform Strategy the Future of Pan India Films?

The OTT deal for SS Rajamouli's upcoming film Varanasi, starring Mahesh Babu is reportedly being discussed as a split deal involving Netflix and JioHotstar. The deal is said to be worth a huge amountm

If the reports turn out to be true then Varanasi could follow a strategy that has already been seen in the case of Rajamouli's Baahubali franchise. This brings an interesting question into the discussion. Is selling a film's digital rights to multiple OTT platforms a good idea.

The Baahubali films showed how different language versions of a single movie could reach audiences through different streaming platforms. Baahubali: The Beginning was available on platforms such as Netflix, JioHotstar, Prime Video and Sony LIV, depending on the language and region.

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion also reached audiences through different OTT services. The recently released Baahubali: The Epic, which combines both films into a remastered version has also received a digital release.

This strategy can be useful for big pan-India films. A movie released in several languages has audiences across different regions. Instead of selling all language rights to one platform, the producers can divide them among different OTT companies.

This may help the makers get a better overall deal. It can also allow each streaming platform to focus on the language audiences it already serves.

However, there are some disadvantages too. Audiences may find it difficult to know which platform has their preferred language version. People who have subscriptions to only one OTT service can sometimes just watch with subtitles and it can become disadvantage for OTT platforms.

For a massive project like Varanasi, a split OTT deal could be a smart business decision if it brings a higher price and wider reach.

But from the OTT's point of view, having all language versions on one platform would be much more convenient as it can increase subscriptions as well.