Sivakarthikeyan’s 'Doctor' to skip theatrical release and opt for direct OTT premiere?

Sivakarthikeyan’s Doctor was slated for a theatrical release on May 13, 2021. But, the second wave of COVID-19 may have brought a change in plan and the film will may now directly release on an OTT platform. However, there is no official announcement about Doctor's release yet. 

Sivakarthikeyan’s Doctor may skip a theatrical release

Doctor was initially supposed to release in theatres on March 26, 2021, but the release date was postponed to May 13, 2021, due to the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections. Since the second wave of COVID-19 has hit the country, people may not visit theatres as they used to which may result in the makers shifting to a digital release. Theatre owners have now hinted that the film will be released on OTT and stated that "opting for OTT release makes no sense." 

Rumours of OTT release of Sivakarthikeyan’s movie leaves cinema owners worried 

The owner of Ram Muthuram Cinemas recently took to social media and discouraged the producers from directly going to the streaming platforms. Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “After Pandemic First wave, they thought Theatres are done and #Master gave the best ever collection for us, #KongvsGodzilla did Fantastic, #Sulthan Super HIT Run, #Karnan Best ever Box Office ever for Dhanush. After seeing all good still opting for OTT release makes no sense.”

Adding further he wrote, “Huge Family audience, already songs are a Blockbuster chart no's #Doctor is a perfect Theatre material. It will definitely bring more revenue + OTT release after a month, combined revenue will be good for the producer. Still that's their wish means nothing can't be done.”

Vasu Theatre also appealed to the makers to release the film in theatres. Taking to Twitter, they wrote, “There are somany rumours spreading that #Doctor will release directly on OTT Dear @kjr_studios and @SKProdOffl don't let #Doctor to release directly on OTT ! @Siva_Kartikeyan has a great market, people love to watch his movies only in theatres especially family audiences !”

More about Sivakarthikeyan’s movie 

Doctor is directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and stars Sivakarthikeyan along with Vinay Rai, Priyanka Arul Mohan and Yogi Babu. Sivakarthikeyan also serves as a producer of the film under his banner Sivakarthikeyan Productions and KJR Studios serve as the co-producer and distributor. Take a look at the trailer below.

(Promo Image source: Sivakarthikeyan’s Instagram)