Salman Khan’s ‘Radhe’ Becomes First Indian Movie To Simultaneously Release On OTT, Theatres

Bollywood star Salman Khan's upcoming movie trailer dropped Wednesday, following which distributors revealed "Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai" will release in theatres and OTT simultaneously.

Khan took to Instagram to share the news about his much-awaited movie's official trailer. The movie is helmed by director Prabhu Deva and it is an official remake of the South Korean film "Veteran," which was released in 2015.

Khan's action-adventure stars Jackie Shroff, Randeep Hooda and Disha Patani are in key roles. The movie is slated to release on May 13.

Last year, Warner Bros studio announced the movies scheduled for 2021 including, "The Suicide Squad," "Matrix 4," and "Dune," will release on streaming platform HBO Max and in theatres simultaneously.

Khan became the first Bollywood star to follow Hollywood's footsteps and release his upcoming action-packed movie on streaming platform ZEE5 and in theatres worldwide on the same day.

Shariq Patel, the chief business officer of Zee Studios (the film's distributors) said, "The ongoing pandemic forced us to innovate, and we are proud to be the first to embark upon this new distribution strategy," Variety reported.

"While we all love to catch the latest movies at the nearest theatres," he added. "We realized we’d be doing a disservice to Salman’s fans nationwide if we aren’t able to release theatrically in all Indian states."

"We sensed the need for a pay-per-view solution along with theatres, which gives the consumers flexibility and convenience of viewing the film," Patel told the outlet.

"There cannot be a better film than ‘Radhe’ to offer the audiences who’ve been waiting for an out and out entertainer for over a year now," he concluded. "'Radhe' continues our network’s deep relationship with Salman Khan and we are looking to release the film in over 40 countries including theatrical release in major overseas markets."

The limited theatrical release in India due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic might affect the movie's box-office collection. Previously, Khan's big-budget movies such as "Sultan" and "Tiger Zinda Hai" earned huge revenues from the theatrical release.

"Radhe" will be the second big Bollywood release amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 13, Bollywood star Akshay Kumar had announced his upcoming movie "Sooryavanshi" would release on April 30.