Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi's Film to Drop on Amazon In Jan 2022?

Exclusive: Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday-starrer gets a title and release date.

It's surprising that a film directed by Shakun Batra featuring Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ananya Panday in the lead and produced by one of India's leading production companies would premiere directly on OTT at a time when cinema theatres are back in business. However, news is that Dharma Productions will most likely be releasing their upcoming relationship drama on Amazon Prime Video in January 2022.

According to sources close to the deal, the team have finally zeroed in on a title which will be revealed soon. The first trailer of the film is expected to release on Deepika's birthday - 5 January. The decision to go straight to OTT was not unanimous, with Deepika having earlier expressed reservations about the decision.

The film is almost complete and one shooting schedule for some remaining patchwork is expected to take place this month. The big question is why was the decision taken by the makers to go straight to OTT? It's most likely because the film has a niche adult theme and also features some intimate scenes between Deepika and Siddhant. To keep their labour of love intact and not have the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) have their way with the content is probably one of the main reasons why the makers chose to take the OTT route.

After their close stint with Netflix, Dharma Productions released their film Shershaah on Amazon Prime Video on 12 August and are reportedly very happy with the way the film was both marketed and received on the OTT platform. The decision to go with Prime Video was based on their dealings with the platform for Shershaah which has been hugely successful and satisfactory for the all the key players.