Shoojit Sircar Doesn’t ‘Feel Guilty’ Of Opting For An OTT Release For 'Sardar Udham': ‘It's Not A Mistake’

During the trailer launch of the film, Sircar was asked if he feels he could have waited longer for cinema halls to reopen so that the movie could have had a big screen release.

Outlook Web Bureau

Updated on: 1 October 2021 5:07 pm

National Award-winning director Shoot Sircar doesn’t feel he made a “mistake” by opting for an OTT release for his upcoming film ‘Sardar Udham’, despite the recent announcement by Maharashtra government to reopen cinemas in the state on October 22.

During the trailer launch of the film, Sircar was asked if he feels he could have waited longer for cinema halls to reopen so that the movie could have had a big screen release.

"It's a tricky question. There's a destiny for every film and 'Sardar Udham' landed on Amazon Prime. When I shot the film, this wasn't the situation. We shot the film for cinemas. I do not feel guilty that it's releasing on (a digital platform). We decided that this will go on the digital platform. I didn't feel that this was a mistake I was making," the filmmaker told reporters.

Headlined by Vicky Kaushal, the film is gearing up to be released on Amazon Prime Video on October 16. "Sardar Udham", which was completed in 2019, was earlier expected to release theatrically.

Last year, during the coronavirus pandemic-induced nationwide lockdown which resulted in cinema halls being shut across the country, Sircar's ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ was one of the first films to head to the OTT platform.

The filmmaker said he is "impatient" and wants to showcase his work to the audience as quickly as possible, which is why both ‘Gulabo Sitabo’ and ‘Sardar Udham’ didn't wait for the reopening of cinema halls.

"What I also experienced after 'Gulabo Sitabo' was the reach the film got. I thought this film ('Sardar Udham') also needs a huge global platform, apart from our Indian territories. That was also a good reason for me to go ahead. Yes, the cinematic experience of a theatre will be surely missed, but it is not a compromise on the cinematic narrative. It'll be as cinematic on a big screen as it is on a small screen," Sircar added.

The film is a biopic on freedom fighter Sardar Udham Singh, who assassinated Michael O'Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab in British India in 1940, to avenge the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

(With Inputs From PTI)