Shocking: Just Three Days Theatrical Run Before OTT Release?

Akshay Kumar‘s Bellbottom will be the first-star film from Bollywood releasing in theaters in the COVID second wave. The movie has been announced for July 27th release. It is interesting to note that July 27th is a Tuesday. Unless there are any festivals, film releases before Thursday are considered not sane in the film trade. There are no such occasions in July.

That is giving rise to suspicions if Bellbottom is just eyeing a three days theatrical window before the Digital release on Friday. However, even though it sounds simple, that is not going to be easy. The makers can not resort to such an experiment without informing the trade in advance about the Digital Release.

If they try to do so, it may backfire very badly. We have already seen various Multiplex associations banning the screenings of the films which are premiered on OTT platforms. Also, another question is that if the OTT player who got the digital rights will be comfortable with the film in theaters on the first weekend.

If not, will BellBottom pull out of the theaters after completing the three days run? In that case, will the exhibitors agree to screen the film for only three days? Probably, the makers will need to come up with an explanation about the Tuesday release very soon.