Andhra Pradesh State Fibernet Limited (APSFL) chairman Gowtham Reddy recently announced the launch of the First Day-First Show program, allowing viewers to watch latest movies on the release day from the comfort of their homes. The program is set to kick off on June 2 in Visakhapatnam.
Reddy added that users can access new movies by paying a subscription priced at Rs 99 per film. Therefore, with the new offering, users will no longer have to rely on OTT and can watch the movies directly by subscribing to the service.
According to Reddy, both the producer and the audience will benefit with this new arrangement. "Theatre owners need not worry about the footfalls and this approach should be considered as just a theatre. Movies will be screened on APSFL only if the producer approaches us," he said, according to an India Today report.
"To bring APSFL close to the people in AP, we have set a target of 55,000km of OFC cable. So far, 37,000km of cable-laying is complete. Out of the 11,254 gram panchayats, 7600 villages have been given fiber net connectivity," he added.
Soon after the announcement, filmmakers and netizens took to social media to share their views, with many stating that the move will kill theatre experience.
"No NOTABLE producer, distributor, OTT platforms agree for this. As it's not profitable to them and also it will KILL theatre experience and Exhibition system which is back bone of films," said Telugu producer Sreenivasa Kumar.
Prasad Nimmakayala, vice president, Telugu movies ZEE Studios added, "This is definitely not for all films. May be films which can not make it theatres and OTT release. This may help few films which are looking for sampling to create buzz. Just like previews."
"This is unethical," said a Twitter user, while another called it a bad decision.
Another user added, "Most of the low budget movies would agree to this decision and I doubt if notable producers will agree and sell their movies to APSFL along with theatres unless AP Government forces them to do so."