Business of films: Why Aamir Khan took Sitaare Zameen Par to YouTube

Indian Express

17 hours ago

Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan this month released his Sitaare Zameen Par on the Google-owned video-sharing platform YouTube, rather than an over-the-top (OTT) platform such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, after the film had completed its theatrical run.
The film, in the genre of comedy-drama known as 'dramedy', earned Rs 216 crore at the box office worldwide. Since August 1, it has been available for rent on YouTube for Rs 100 (and for half that price from August 15-17). What is the business logic for Aamir Khan's decision?
Theatre owners were upset: multiplex giant PVR INOX said Sircar had 'vitiated the atmosphere of mutual partnership' between theatres and filmmakers. But amid the Covid-19 lockdown, direct-to-OTT was a fait accompli of sorts.
Prime announced plans for six more digital-only premieres of Malayalam, Tamil, and Kannada films. In 2021, more than 100 films had opted for direct-to-OTT releases.
But this Covid-era momentum faded quickly. In 2024, only 60 films were released directly on digital platforms — a more-than-42% decline compared to 2022, according to a report by the trade association FICCI and multinational accounting firm EY published this year.
Direct-to-OTT films have not done particularly well either. Between January and June this year, 30 films in multiple languages were released on OTT platforms, of which only five ranked among the 50 most-watched streaming originals, Ormax Media, a Mumbai-based research firm, reported.
The number of films being released in theatres first and subsequently on OTT has steadily increased — doubling from 217 in 2022 to 440 in 2024, according to FICCI-EY reports of 2024 and 2025. Filmmakers are confronted with two broad realities:
🔴 Footfall in theatres has recovered from pandemic-driven lows, but has been declining generally — having fallen from 994 million in 2022 to 857 million in 2024, according to the 2025 FICCI-EY report.
This has been attributed to the narrowing theatre-to-OTT window: the availability of films on OTT platforms soon after their theatrical release is believed to depress theatre footfall. But this allows the OTT platforms to benefit from the theatre-marketing buzz.
🔴 The FICCI-EY report noted that 'cost pressures' led to subdued digital releases in 2024. With OTT platforms now focused on profitability, 'tentpole' films — big-budget productions that are expected to perform well — and small-budget ones were in demand, but mid-sized films had few takers.
In some cases, it was 'understood that theatrical performance was required to market the film for OTT platforms as well', the FICCI-EY report said.
Aamir's decision to go to YouTube effectively adds another distribution channel for films. 'We need a 'pay-per-view' (PPV) window between theatrical and OTT, and that's what I am pushing to create,' he told Matthew Beloni on the podcast The Town.
In the PPV model, viewers essentially pay only for what they want to watch, not for a subscription.
'Once the theatrical run is exhausted, that's when I want to come on pay-per-view, and that's a window [for the theatrical run] that can be flexible. It should certainly not be below six weeks. And then, you should give pay-per-view a good three months, and then the film can come on OTT. That's the ideal window,' Aamir said.
According to Aamir, the 'bulk of India does not subscribe to OTT platforms', and YouTube potentially has greater reach, including globally. He also suggested that YouTube could offer a more favourable deal than the traditional 50-50 split between the production house and theatres, and that the PPV model could open a path for younger filmmakers and smaller-budget films that do not get distribution in theatres.
In 2024, only 30% of all films were released on OTTs (including digital-first and theatre-first), according to the FICCI-EY report. As such, there are a large number of unsold films that could find audiences on AVOD (advertising-based video-on-demand) and TVOD (transactional video-on-demand) platforms such as YouTube.
AVOD allows free access to videos, but with advertisements. TVOD, which is the same as PPV, allows viewers to pay a one-time rent for a specific piece of content.
The FICCI-EY report points out that TVOD releases (parallel to or shortly after theatre runs) would get audiences in regions with limited theatre access. Also, a Rs 100 rent fee is less than the average ticket price of Rs 139 (in 2024).
Several factors work in favour of YouTube as the platform of choice for filmmakers.
🔴 YouTube accounted for 92% of all online video consumption in 2024;
🔴 It has the highest penetration in India among social media platforms, according to a 2024 report by Comscore, a media analytics company;
🔴 It is popular across generations — 91% of Gen Z and more than 80% of millennials and Gen X were on YouTube;
🔴 While the majority of YouTube consumption is on mobile phones, it also has an expanding CTV (connected TV) base: between March 2023 and March 2024, it was the most-watched streaming service on Indian CTV.
There is not much publicly available data on YouTube's TVOD offerings.
In 2024, TVOD revenues were more than Rs 13 billion in India, lagging behind SVOD (subscription video on demand) revenue from services like Netflix or JioHotstar, which charge an annual or monthly subscription fee for access to a large volume of content.
According to a report by accounting firm PwC, SVOD accounted for 75% of OTT revenue in India in 2023, while TVOD and AVOD accounted for 5% and 20% respectively.
However, the FICCI-EY report said TVOD is expected to scale amid rising OTT subscription costs and CTV penetration. Smaller OTT platforms may opt for TVOD models, with films that were previously unsold, and more major players may start offering a mix of SVOD and TVOD, following in the footsteps of Prime and Apple TV.