OTT Test: Can Netflix Succeed Where Theatres Failed?

Can Netflix revive Idhayam Murali?

Atharvaa’s Idhayam Murali directed by debutant Aakash Baskaran was released in theatres on 10th July and has received mixed responses from audiences and critics alike.

Since this film features a massive star cast including Preity Mukhundhan, Fahadh Faasil and Kayadu Lohar, many people expected that it would be a solid feel-good film and emerge as a blockbuster success.

Unfortunately, the film received mixed responses and completed its theatrical run with an average status. While some viewers shared positive feedback after watching the film suggesting that Idhayam Murali is one of the decent films released in Kollywood in the last few months and claiming that Fahadh Faasil was the show-stealer, others shared negative reviews.

They noted that even though Idhayam Murali had some exciting elements in the first half, the predictable screenplay and draggy narration killed the film.

However, following its average theatrical run, Idhayam Murali is now all set to stream on the Netflix OTT platform with a 4 week OTT window on August 7th in five languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.

In response to the OTT release update, some Kollywood trackers are predicting that Idhayam Murali might perform well on OTT. They note that feel-good films always perform well on digital platforms and believe that Idhayam Murali might emerge as a successful venture on OTT.

Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether Idhayam Murali receives a positive response from OTT audiences and emerges as a successful venture at least on OTT upon its release on August 7th.