5 min readMar 8, 2026 07:00 PM IST While many stakeholders initially saw the arrival and rise of over-the-top (OTT) platforms as a significant change that would give a new lease on life to movies that didn’t get their fair share of theatrical run or offer a chance to those films that would have otherwise never gone beyond film festivals, they have come to realise that it is, in fact, a double-edged sword. Among the many mandates of streaming platforms that have been proving a headache for filmmakers is the four-week window between theatrical and OTT releases of new movies. At the same time, streaming platforms have also been prioritising their own originals rather than buying everything that is being released. Recently, renowned producer-author G Dhananjayan broke down the business model of OTTs and their selection, or lack thereof, of movies. Also Read | How Vikram and Jyotika’s busy schedules led to the start of Vijay and Trisha’s on-screen journey How do OTT platforms buy films? “For Tamil cinema, OTTs are both an opportunity and …