Badass Ravikumar On OTT: Viewership War Between Streamers, Himesh Reshammiya Causing Delay In Digital Premiere

Badass Ravikumar starring Himesh Reshammiya released earlier this year in February. While it is customary for a Bollywood film to begin streaming after an 8-week gap post its theatrical debut, it has been almost three months since Badass Ravikumar released, but it has still not premiered on OTT. Speculation is rife that there is less interest within the streaming community to buy the film's digital rights and Himesh is possibly not getting the desired money. However, that is not the case.

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Why is there a delay in Badass Ravi Kumar OTT premiere?

Badass Ravikumar is a comedy film, described as a homage to 80s Bollywood. The film is full of goofy dialogue and upbeat music, which had gone viral when the film was first released earlier this year. While it went on to collect just ₹9.98 crore at the box office, it acquired a cult following for the outrageous and indulgent content it promised viewers. Many are eagerly awaiting its OTT release.

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A report in Bollywood Hungama reveals that Himesh has put a condition in front of the streaming companies about the film's properties. It is natural for streamers to put out promotional content on YouTube, like extended scenes and music clips to boost viewership. This also increases traction on social media and directly benefits their profits. Himesh reportedly wants streamers to just stream his movie online, while he gets creative control of what promotional material is officially put out on the internet.

Is Himesh being greedy?

 

According to the report, Himesh "wants to be the sole person cutting memorable scenes from their film and putting them for public consumption on the YouTube channel of Himesh Reshammiya Melodies. That’s why he didn’t even sell the music rights to any music company.”

The source further revealed, "Himesh Reshammiya is aware that he is sitting on a gold mine with Badass Ravi Kumar. Its dialogues created a frenzy in cinemas and these one-liners will get mad viewership on YouTube. The OTT giants don’t stop producers from uploading dialogues and scenes from their film on their YouTube channel. Even Himesh Reshammiya can do so if he signs the deal with the streaming giants. But then the views will get divided between the scenes uploaded by the YouTube channel of the OTT platform and that of Himesh Reshammiya Melodies."