It was quite a surprise for everyone including fans, theatre owners and distributors when Suriya announced his next film 'Soorarai Pottru' getting an direct OTT release on Amazon Prime Video.

While there were rumours before about the release of the movie on OTT streaming platform, the actor had rubbished the rumours and had also reiterated that the film is meant for the big screen.

It looks like the actor has changed his mind over the time as a producer of the film because of the unending spike in COVID-19 positive cases in the state and there is no decision or plans for reopening cinema halls.

'Soorarai Pottru' is most anticipated film and first big actor's movie opted for a direct OTT release. Now, many Tamil movie fans are wondering if other big star movies like Vijay 'Master' and Dhanush starrer 'Jagame Thandhiram' also release on a video streaming platform, as these movies were ready for release on early summer this year.

On two separate interviews, the makers of both the films had recently reiterated that their respective films will not directly release in OTT platforms.

Lokesh Kanagaraj, director of Vijay's Master recently said during a media interaction that even the film's update like teaser or trailer can only be unveiled once the lockdown ends.

Xavier Britto, the producer of Master said that the movie will not be released on any streaming platform first. “Vijay sir is very clear that the release should be only after theatres open. Whether it will be released for Deepavali or after that depends on when the theatres are reopening,” he said.

Adding that it is impossible for such a huge project to be released in OTT first, he said, “Vijay has said that the release can wait till theatres reopen. So the mentality is clear. I am not sure how the rumours of an OTT release came. These are movies with huge investment and hence it is not clear how possible it is to do an OTT release first.”

While there were rumours that Dhanush gave permission for releasing the 'Jagame Thandhiram' to release directly on Netflix, during an interaction, 'Jagame Thandhiram' director Karthik Subbaraj had said that "Jagame Thanthiram is meant for theatrical release and we have to wait for it. It will not release on OTT."

He said that he cannot comment on the trailer or the teaser release of the film, unless there is a clarity about the reopening of theatres. He was quoted as saying, "I am sure every filmmaker wants to watch their film on the big screen along with the audience. The theatre experience will always remain close to my heart."

Though the lockdown got lifted and the theatres have permission to open the cinema halls for shows, it might take more time to accommodate a massive crowd considering the COVID-19 fear among the people as of now. If OTT platforms are ready to offer an amount where the makers can profit out of it, the video streaming platforms will be a good option but with sacrifice as it will be a big disappointment for fans waiting to watch their favourite star in big screen.