OTT Round-Up – Rajkummar Rao, Kriti Sanon, Emraan Hashmi, Nikita Dutta, Neha Sharma to premiere their films on OTT this week

By Joginder Tuteja

The past week has been pretty dull for OTT platforms, with not even a single notable new movie or web series released on any platform.

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With the holiday season, things would turn out to be pretty bright for the majority of OTT platforms, with three notable films in digital premieres. While Hum Do Hamaare Do and Dybbuk were designed for theatrical release, they opt for direct release to OTT. As for Aafat-e-Ishq, it was designed as an OTT movie initially. What also makes these films special is the fact that each of them contains a Bollywood star.

First let’s talk about Hum Do Hamaare Do, which is the biggest release of the week. The family comedy is produced by Maddock Films’ Dinesh Vijan, which had a highlight in theaters as well as on OTT in 2021, with up to four releases. The year started with Roohi [Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Varun Sharma] which hit theaters and was the highest-grossing Hindi film until Bell Bottom performed. This was followed by Kriti Sanon and Mimi from Pankaj Tripathi which was a critical and commercial success on Netflix. Post which arrived in Shiddat just a few weeks ago and the movie Sunny Kaushal and Radhika Madan was noted for its music when it was released on Disney + Hotstar.

Now is the time for Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon to join Paresh Rawal and Ratna Pathak Shah in a family comedy set. The promo for this film directed by Abhishek Jain is hilarious and promises a clean comedy. If the film had been released in theaters, it certainly would have needed a good opening. No wonder Disney + Hotstar is excited about the movie.

Aafat-e-Ishq is another comedy and this one has a folkloric/supernatural side to it. The Neha Sharma star was announced some time ago and has now seen a release date announced. The promo points to a twisted and quirky affair, and that is also expected given that the head of the business is Indrajit Nattoji who has done another quirky comedy Aagey Se Right [Shreyas Talpade, Kay Kay Menon] in the past. The film is released on ZEE5 and is part of a series of films that are regularly premiered here.

What surprised me was the sudden announcement of the release of the horror film Dybbuk. Previously titled Ezra (the same title as the original in Malayalam), the film has Emraan Hashmi leading the show. The actor has already seen Mumbai Saga and Chehre hit theaters, and then immediately on OTT platforms. Now Dybbuk with Nikita Dutta as the lead lady is coming straight to OTT but surprisingly with only 10-day promotions. The trailer says director Jay K has put together a gripping horror drama. Hopefully, that’s the case too.

Release dates

Hum Do Hamaare Do – Disney+Hotstar – 29th October

Aafat-e-Ishq – ZEE5 – 29th October

Dybbuk – Amazon Prime – 29th October

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