28 years of 'Khiladi': Abbas and Mustan talk about OTT vs Theatrical release post COVID

Abbas and Mustan Burmawalla are two famous Bollywood directions known for their suspense and action thrillers that have gained a cult status in the industry. Khiladi, Baazigar, Soldier, Ajnabee, Baadshah, Aitraaz, Humraaz, 36 China Town, Race, Machine and others are some of the blockbusters this duo directed. Their superhit movie Khiladi that released in the year 1992, that gave Akshay Kumar his first big hit film, has now come to complete 28 years this June. Republic got an exclusive interview with the duo on this occasion, where they expressed their views on OTT platforms vs Theatrical release in the time of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

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OTT is a wonderful platform for films that are grounded 

In the interview, Abbas-Mastan talked about their movie Khiladi, that grew to become a franchise in itself. Then they shared their opinion about the concept of movie releases on OTT platforms. Talking about films releasing on OTT platforms, "at least the content is reaching somehow, that is what is important. Big films are on hold. But OTT releases are also a good way." said the duo. They also explained that theatres are the original medium and that movies must come back to it eventually. 

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'There should be a platform to release a project,' says the duo  

The duo explained that in these times the audience was watching movies at home as they can't go out and they can only hope that they would also come to see the movies in theatres when the pandemic ends. "There should be a platform to release a project," they said about films releasing in the future.  

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Abbas and Mustan also commented on the current situation of the film Industry amidst the pandemic. They said that the entire world's industries are shut right now and that film industry was a small part of that picture. They showed optimism and said that things would eventually go back to normal. Abbas and Mustan were asked about re-makes of Khiladi, to which they said that they would think about if they ever had a good script. They also said that they would only take Akshay Kumar for the movie and mentioned how big of prankster he was in the sets of Khiladi. 

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