Releasing big banner films in festivals, especially during Diwali, has been a trend for years. The cinema halls are flooded with releases, and now due to the pandemic, even the OTT landscape is experiencing the same course. Last year’s Diwali saw three movies being showcased, namely Laxmii, Ludo, and Chhalaang on Disney+Hotstar, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video, respectively. This year, although the theatres across Maharashtra will be open by then, OTT will continue to have its portion of exclusive releases. The Diwali week will see three releases across the OTT platforms.
Netflix was the first in the race when it announced the release Meenakshi Sundareshwar on November 5, Diwali day. Produced by Dharmatic Entertainment, the movie has Sanya Malhotra and Abhimanyu Dassani in the lead. Disney was second in line to share the announcement of Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon starrer Hum Do Hamare Do, helmed by Abhishek Jain and produced by Dinesh Vijan on October 29. And now it has been learned that Amazon Prime is also planning an exclusive release in the festival week.
As per a source, the OTT giant has decided to premiere Dybbuk, a horror film that has Emraan Hashmi in the lead. Amazon is confident that viewers will not shy away from checking out this scare-fest even at a time when the nation would be engrossed in the festivities. That said, the exact date of the release is yet to be decided. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Kishan Kumar, Kumar Mangat Pathak, and Abhishek Pathak, Dybbuk is the official remake of the Malayalam film Ezra and will be directed by Jay Krishnan, who helmed the original project.
