The second wave of film acquisitions by OTT platforms has begun this year. Earlier, Amazon Prime Video had announced its upcoming hindi films with Farhan Akhtar’s Toofaan and Vidya Balan’s Sherni. And now, there are multiple reported news of Disney+Hotstar acquiring Hindi feature films.
Disney+Hotstar, premiered seven big Hindi titles starring superstars such as Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, and Abhishek Bachchan among others last year, most of which failed to create an impact but this year, their focus has shifted to smaller to medium sized films for better recovery.
If reports are to be believed, Disney+Hotstar has bought five Hindi films for its direct-to-web release and is readying a solid slate of feature films for this year. However, the official announcement is still awaited.
We reported earlier, that Disney+Hotstar is in final stages of closing its deal with two Hindi films – Bhoot Police, a horror-comedy film directed by Pavan Kripalani and starring Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Yami Gautam and Jacqueline Fernandez and Hungama 2, Priyadarshan’s comedy sequel starring Meezaan Jaffrey, Shilpa Shetty, Pranitha Subhash and Paresh Rawal.
Now we have learnt that, Disney+Hotstar is preparing to close its deal with not just these two films, but also the following films-
Shiddat, a romantic film starring Radhika Madan, Sunny Kaushal, Mohit Raina and Diana Penty. The film is directed by Kunal Deshmukh and produced by Disneh Vijan’s Maddock films.
Mimi, loosely based on the Marathi film Mala Aai Vhhaychy. Starring Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi, the film revolves around the acceptance of surrogacy. Directed by Laxman Utekar, written by Rohan Shankar and produced by Dinesh Vijan under his banner Maddock Films.
Shaadistan, starring Kirti Kulhari and co-starring Kay Kay Menon and Raj Singh Chaudhary. The film will be directed by debutant Raj Singh Chaudhary.
“Disney+Hotstar is again going with all guns blazing. They have acquired five new films and are in talks for some more Hindi titles that will straightly premiere on the service between June and October 2021. However, this year they have bought mostly the small and medium budget films compared to last year’s slate that included three A-lister projects (Laxmmi, Bhuj: The Pride of India, The Big Bull). The streaming giant is in final negotiation with the filmmakers before locking the deal. They are expected to announce the films officially once all the paperwork is done,” an industry source informed Peeping Moon.
