What! Aditya Chopra Rejects Rs. 400 Crore Offer From Amazon Prime Video To Release Films On The OTT Platform?
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Coronavirus pandemic led many films to be released on OTT. Salman Khan’s Radhe to Ajay Devgn’s Bhuj: The Pride of India, most of the films opted for a direct to digital premiere. However, there’s one producer who has stood by Exhibitors was none other than Yash Raj films Headhoncho Aditya Chopra.
Yashraj films have held on to films like Bunty Aur Babli 2, Shamshera, Prithviraj, Jayeshbhai Jordaar for over 18 months amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Chopra received several offers from multiple OTT players but he refused the offers.
As per Bollywood Hungama report, a source informed, “The giants are keen to collaborate with Aditya Chopra and strike a direct to digital deal. However, he has been clear about the fact that YRF films are meant to be consumed on the big screen and has time and again rejected the offers.”
The report further quoted the source as saying, “After the second wave of the pandemic, with no clarity on reopening cinema halls in Maharashtra, Amazon Prime made a lucrative offer to Chopra to acquire the entire slate of 4 films for a humongous sum of over Rs. 400 crore. However, without even giving it a thought, the response from Adi was a firm NO. The amount quoted by the OTT players would have ensured tons of profit for Adi in a fraction of a second.”
The source also said that Amazon Prime Video was even keen to bargain with Aditya Chopra and get hold of any of the four projects, if not all of them. “They understood that Adi is in no mood to sell the big-ticket magnum opus like Prithviraj and Shamshera. Hence, they made a counteroffer of buying relatively small films like Bunty Aur Babli 2 and Jayeshbhai Jordaar. But all that they heard from Adi was a NO,” the unnamed source was quoted.
“He didn’t sell a dud like Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, so giving away projects like Jayeshbhai and Bunty Babli is out of the question. All YRF films are meant for cinema halls and an announcement on the release dates is on cards any day now.” the source added, as per the report.
As a result, Aditya Chopra is most likely to release his films in theatres once cinemas are reopened in Maharashtra. He will soon announce the release date of the films like Bunty Aur Babli 2, Shamshera, Prithviraj, Jayeshbhai Jordaar.
