“No tweets about the film’s opening. No tweets about its weekend. No tweets about the ‘Monday test’. Just love for the film (sometimes through being critical). The way it should be. The business of cinema is best left to the investors. Cinema is best left to its viewers,” filmmaker Hansal Mehta enthusiastically tweeted earlier on Friday as the Amitabh Bachchan-Ayushman Khurana starrer Gulabo Sitabo released in over 200 countries in the world on Amazon Prime Video. These words ring true for a web film of any language in the Indian film industry, where the visual medium stays true to the purpose of telling an honest story and the business is hardly a point of discussion among viewers/so-called trade pundits.
This is a trend that could work in favour of Naveen Chandra’s upcoming well film Bhanumathi Ramakrishna too. While there’s no doubt that he’s been a part of several prominent films like Andaala Rakshasi, Devadas, Nenu Local, Aravinda Sametha Veeraraghava and Evaru recently, he certainly cannot be termed a crowd puller. That’s where the digital medium could be of great use for the actor and he could worry less about the crowds he could draw. All that matters is that he’s a recognisable face and the story has potential to engage viewers.
Bhanumathi Ramakrishna, where he shares the screen space with actress Salony Luthra (who was his co-star in the Tamil film Sarabham too) was appreciated for its quirky entertaining trailer recently. The rom-com about a couple in their 30s dealing with the turbulence in their relationship fits perfectly for OTT viewing – being light-hearted and purposeful at the same time. Filmmaker Srikanth Nagothi has helmed the film that has been in the making for long and interestingly, Kshanam director Ravikanth Perepu has edited it.
The fact that a leading production house Northstar Entertainment, that has made its presence felt in the OTT space too with shows like The Grill, Asalem Jarigindante, Sin recently, is associated with the project tells us that the film is in safe hands. Produced by Yaswanth Mulukutla, Bhanumathi Ramakrishna appears to have got its mix right for web viewing. A good response to the film will go some distance in convincing several small-time producers to take the OTT route.
