By Joginder Tuteja
With the festivities kickstarting this Dussehra season, it was also time for OTT channels to go on an overdrive, what with as many as three notable movies seeing a digital release. Each of these films was designed for a theatrical arrival but with pandemic playing spoilsport, the makers went ahead and signed a deal with the OTT channels. It’s a different matter that had they waited for a week more, it could well have a theatrical arrival for these too. However, since the deal has been signed and sealed, there was no turning back from here on. As a result, Rashmi Rocket (ZEE5), Sanak - Hope Under Siege (Disney+Hotstar) and Sardar Udham (Amazon Prime) were seen on the small screen.
Rashmi Rocket is a sports drama with a twist, what with gender test issue at the core of it. Taapsee has been quite high around the film and is promoting it aggressively. While she has around half a dozen films at different stages of production, Rashmi Rocket is the second instance of a film of hers (after Haseen Dillruba) when a theatrical release has been skipped. The film does well as a courtroom drama primarily and asks a few pertinent question. Moreover, despite the subject which could have been a borderline affair for family audiences, it actually works well across all age groups.
Sanak - Hope Under Siege is a quintessential Vidyut Jammwal film where a lone hero takes on all the opposition single handedly. A plot based film which is quite common in Hollywood, this Vipul Shah production is set on one fateful evening in a hospital which is attacked by the terrorists. While the action sequences do manage to hold your attention, and hence do well with hardcore Vidyut Jammwal fans, had there been more intense and nail biting drama as well along with edge of the seat moments then Sanak would have found an even larger audience.
Sardar Udham has released on Saturday and this one is a classy affair about a chapter from Indian history which had been heard about a bit but not quite spread around as much as it deserved. In that aspect, filmmaker Shoojit Sircar introduces audiences to a real life hero who had a notable role to play in pure-Independence India. Vicky Kaushal is known most since his escapades in all time blockbuster Uri: The Surgical Strike and while he was seen in Bhoot Part 1: The Haunted Ship as well post that, Sardar Udham is one film where he gets an opportunity to show some histrionics.
Coming soon
Just like the week before, even the coming week won’t see any new release on the OTT. It is apparent that the makers were aiming to make most of Dussehra and hence brought number of films concurrently. However, with theatres opening in the coming week, one can well expect scarcity of direct-to-digital movies from this point on. That said, the web series would still be there for the taking and one waits to see what’s in store from the week after.
Release dates
No new releases
Watch this space for more updates.