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Mohanlal’s new film 12th Man will skip the wait to get to theatres and stream directly on Disney+ Hotstar on 20 May. The Malayalam language mystery thriller has been directed by Jeethu Joseph and also features Unni Mukundan, Sshivada, Anusree, Anu Sithara, Saiju Kurup, Rahul Madhav, Aditi Ravi, Priyanka Nair, Anu Mohan, and Chandhunadh.
Top South Indian actors are following their Bollywood counterparts to feature in web originals or have their films release directly on streaming platforms, even though they belong to an industry that has long acknowledged the dominance of the theatrical medium and hero-worship culture originating from wide releases in cinemas.
Telugu star Rana Daggubati will be seen in a Netflix original titled Rana Naidu along with uncle and veteran actor Venkatesh; Vijay Sethupathi will feature in The Family Man director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK’s next Amazon Prime Video original, while Trisha will appear in a show on SonyLIV called Brinda.
Industry experts and platform executives say at least the younger actors are recognising the enduring appeal of the medium which is here to stay even as theatres open up and give them opportunities to consolidate their stardom among mainstream audiences. Most southern language offerings are also grabbing more eyeballs than Hindi shows on OTT (over-the-top) streaming platforms, including and beyond native speakers.
That said, a lot of older, mass-market stars like Rajinikanth, Vijay and Ajith still swear by the theatrical medium much like top Bollywood names like Salman Khan but some of the younger names are happy straddling both worlds. An actor like Samantha Ruth Prabhu found herself on the global map after the second season of The Family Man, a primarily Hindi language show. To be sure, on-boarding southern actors is also a factor in the success of regional language offerings already out on OTT platforms that want to deepen penetration into the country.
