Though the pandemic is pushing more filmmakers to release their movies on OTT platforms first, Actor Vijay’s much-awaited movie Master will definitely get a theatrical release, its producer said.
Speaking to Cinema Vikatan in an interview, 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.”
In the last two months, many movies have had an OTT release as canning movies for an indefinite time can create huge losses for production houses.
Master, a Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial, was supposed to hit the screens on April 9 but was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The movie commenced shooting in 2019 and was wrapped up in 129 days. Rumoured to be a gangster movie, Vijay is playing a college professor in Master, a first in his career. Predominantly filmed in Shimoga, Delhi, Chennai and Neyveli, Master’s audio launch was held in a star hotel in March 2020.
The movie also stars Vijay Sethupathi, who plays the antagonist essaying a deadly character. Malavika Mohanan is the leading lady in Master. Apart from the three main actors, Andrea, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, Arjun Das and Gouri Kishan of 96 fame also find a place in this movie. Produced by Xavier Britto’s XB Film Creators, Master’s music has been composed by Anirudh Ravichander and cinematography has been handled by Sooryan. Philomin Raj has taken care of the editing for the movie.