The theatres are shut for months which never happened in the past. The exhibition industry is completely shattered and the producers are suffering from the heaped-up financial strain. Several producers opted out for a direct digital release to prevent the mounting interests and end up safe. Several films featuring stars too were released directly on digital platforms and the digital release saved the producers from huge losses.

Nani’s V, Anushka’s Nishabdham and Venky’s Narappa are the prominent Telugu films that were released directly. The makers made good profits through the digital release. The real fact is that all these three films could have ended up as cost failures if released in theatres. Several small films like Dear Brother, Ek Mini Katha, Pachchis and Ardha Shathabdham headed for a digital release. The makers of all these films made handsome profits as per their investments. The audience would have turned down these films if released in theatres.

All the filmmakers made good profits because of the direct digital release. OTTs directly or indirectly turned out to be the saviors for Telugu filmmakers in these tough pandemic times. There are talks that Drishyam 2, Virata Parvam and Maestro are gearing up for direct digital release soon. It would take a couple of months for the theatres to reopen on a full-fledged note considering the current situation and the third wave of coronavirus.