Vivek Agnihotri asks why Shahid Kapoor's Bloody Daddy is free on OTT: ‘Bollywood is celebrating its own destruction’

People can watch Shahid Kapoor's Bloody Daddy for free on JioCinema. Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has asked the reason behind a free release for an expensive film.

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has raised a question on the ‘free’ digital release of Shahid Kapoor's new film, Bloody Daddy. The movie released on JioCinema on June 9 and is available for free viewing. He called it an “insane business model” and said this could lead Bollywood to destruction.

Ronit Roy and Shahid Kapoor in a still from Bloody Daddy.

Vivek Agnihotri on Bloody Daddy's free viewing

Sharing a newspaper ad about the Bloody Daddy's OTT release, Vivek said on Twitter on Friday, “Why would anyone show a 200 cr film for free? What’s this insane business model? Sad news is that Bollywood is celebrating its own destruction.”

A Twitter user shared an explanation in response to his tweet. The tweet read, “This is Jio's business model. They'll give everything free for few/several months to increase the customer base. Later they'll start charging minimal fee to retain the customers. Soon other OTT platforms too will have no option but to charge less to customers and generate revenue thru ads instead. OTT, supposed to be an add free platform, will too turn into TV.”

Reacting to the user's tweet, Vivek asked, “So, in a way this ₹200 crore is their advertising cost?” Many tweeted in agreement.

Bloody Daddy director on its OTT release

Bloody Daddy has been directed by Ali Abbas Zafar of Sultan and Ek Tha Tiger fame. He called the film a big budget OTT movie which is designed in a way that its story can be taken forward. He told PTI in an interview, “Bloody Daddy'has not been compromised budget wise and scale wise to make it look like an OTT film. The story is supported and backed by a certain kind of content, which made all of the stakeholders decide that the truest way to bring this film is on an OTT platform. We are going with that gut and we are hoping that this becomes bigger. It's designed in a way that it can be taken forward. And let's see, what destiny holds for us from there.”

He said "relatability" of the content is the latest parameter of success and not box office. “The relatability right now has become the box office. It's not numbers anymore,” he said.

Bloody Daddy plot and cast

Bloody Daddy also stars Ronit Roy, Sanjay Kapoor, Diana Penty and Rajeev Khandelwal in pivotal roles. The film is a remake of 2011 French film, Sleepless Night. It stars Shahid as Sumair, who faces off against Gurugram's white-collar drug lords, deceitful friends, a ruthless crime boss, murderous narcs, and both corrupt and honest cops - all during one fateful night.

(With PTI inputs)