Aamir Khan devises a masterstroke to revive business of mid-budget movies in theatres?

 Aamir Khan in a recent interview said he is in the twilight of his career. The actor said that if he does ten movies from now on, he would like to ensure that all of them are memorable for fans. Aamir Khan also said that he would like to give a platform to talented story-tellers through his production company. Now, he seems to have taken a step to further revive the theatres. In 2023 and 2024, we have seen very few mid-budget movies coming in theatres. All of them opt for an OTT release. There is a belief that audiences only come in for spectacle or event movies. 

As per a report in Pinkvilla, Aamir Khan has decided not to pre-sell the digital rights of his movies. He wants to revive the genre of social comedy. His idea is to keep a movie exclusive for the theatres for atleast 12 weeks. Nowadays, there is hardly any gap between a theatrical release and an OTT one except for some big movies. The source told the portal, “While the digital medium is keeping the box-office clause in the contract, Aamir is willing to sell and value his film based on the audience reception to the content on theatrical release.” This means, that audience won’t know on which platform the movie is coming, and on which date. 

Of late, we have read about how producers of event films have sold rights for Rs 200 crores plus to streaming giants. While such big movies do make big bucks, there is not much clarity on success of mid-budget films on OTT. We know that Laapataa Ladies did well even at the box office, and even on OTT. In fact, there are some Indian movies like Chor Nikal Ke Bhaaga, An Action Hero that people felt would benefit from a theatrical release. 

Aamir Khan has finished work on Sitaare Zameen Par. It is a movie directed by RS Prasanna. It is about Down’s Syndrome and how people get affected by it. The movie is coming in December 2024 in theatres. Genelia D’Souza and Aamir Khan are the main leads of the movie.