Last month, Aamir Khan surprised the trade when he released his latest blockbuster, RS Prasanna’s coming-of-age sports comedy Sitaare Zameen Par, on YouTube on a pay-per-view basis. He received pushbacks from several quarters for not going the streaming way and choosing to release it on YouTube for Rs 100 per viewing within just six weeks of theatrical release.

“I was scared for sure (of releasing it on YouTube),” confessed Aamir, but claimed he had to fix the exhibition system that got damaged after the coronavirus pandemic when producers began selling their films to OTT platforms in order to cover costs of delay. “I don’t want to blame anyone because their money was stuck. Not everyone can afford to wait this long,” added the actor-filmmaker.

On the Game Changers podcast, Aamir Khan felt films with good word-of-mouth, like Sitaare Zameen Par and Kiran Rao’s 2024 coming-of-age film Laapataa Ladies, lose out on their theatrical venue because the audience is more inclined to watch it on streaming within just eight weeks of theatrical release. “In the short run, you can get away with this. But in the long run, this is going to bother you,” argued Aamir.

“The film should at least get a fair chance in the theatre. If the film is bad, it won’t work anyway. But if it’s a good one, it should work in theatres,” he added. The actor also claimed that unlike across the rest of the world, there was no pay-per-view system between theatrical release and streaming release in India because of the lack of a quick and efficient payment mechanism.

“I remember I’d thought of releasing my films on pay-per-view back in 2011 after 3 Idiots,” recalled Aamir Khan, referring to his 2009 blockbuster dramedy helmed by Rajkumar Hirani. The actor was also in talks with the then-heads of Dish TV and Tata Sky to release his films on a pay-per-view basis on their respective platforms. “They didn’t have as much as YouTube, but there was enough reach. But the payment facility wasn’t very smooth. As per their system, you had to call on a number, then stay on hold for half an hour, then increase the balance in your phone to access the film. No one can watch a film like that,” he explained.

“3 to 3.5 crore, about two to three percent of our population watch movies in theatres. What about the rest of them? We have a 140 crore population, but even if I restrict it to the Hindi-speaking population, we aren’t being able to reach even them,” said Aamir, adding, “So I wanted to increase the number of theatres in India. But that takes time, that takes licenses. Now, we’re also talking to the government to make the process of opening theatres more convenient. I feel we can do with more theatres, not in the cities where they’re already there, but at least one in every district. I feel there’s a scope for theatres, and that business will go deeper and deeper. But if there aren’t enough theatres now, then what?”

He pointed out that while China has 1 lakh theatres and the US has 35,000, India has barely 9,000, out of which half are in South India. “We say we want to compete with China and become the world leader. But how would you do that if you don’t have enough theatres for your population? All these thoughts were roaming around in my head,” said Aamir.

After the advent of UPI and the wide dissemination of YouTube and the internet, Aamir Khan felt it’s an “opportune time” to embrace the pay-per-view model, despite him getting a deal worth Rs 125 crore for a streaming deal. “Had I gone for that, I’d have not only covered my costs but also earned a profit even before the theatrical release. Then the theatrical and overseas businesses are only surplus,” said Aamir.

The actor-filmmaker added that he had to buy out Sitaare Zameen Par from his producing partner, who wasn’t onboard with the move. “I was very certain. If I’m taking a risk, then it should be my alone. Why should I cost someone else because of my belief? But I strongly felt we had to do something for the industry to come back,” added Aamir.

Aamir Khan argued that while all the OTT platforms, even when clubbed together, reach only 3-4 crore people in India, YouTube gets to 50-60 crore every day. “I never said I won’t sell my film to an OTT platform. Why would I not do that? I have an issue with the period (eight weeks between theatrical and streaming releases). Plus, the window that’s there for pay-per-view world over, we didn’t have that. My attempt is to open another window for that so there’s a correct exploitation of the film,” said Aamir.

“I have nothing against OTT. I watch on OTT myself,” he added. The actor claimed he talked to several producers in order to make the pay-per-view model more common, but they’re a little scared right now. “I don’t blame anyone. I understand why. But fortunately, the film has worked so I didn’t have to face any losses. As we go along, we’ll only make more profits. We’re yet to sell our OTT and satellite rights,” revealed Aamir.

“YouTube has this policy that it doesn’t show or provide the number of views (for pay-per-view releases). So I’ll respect that. But the pay-per-view business is at a very nascent stage right now. At this stage, we’ve done 20 times the normal business, so it’s quite huge from that point of view. But in terms of absolute numbers, it doesn’t compare with letting go of the Rs 125 crore streaming offer,” concluded Aamir.

Source: The Indian Express