Dulquer Salmaan is a famed Malayalam industry actor whose involvement in films like Sita Ramam is widely talked about. However, despite his star power, he seems to have had trouble getting his projects on OTT platforms. In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, the actor dished about Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra being unable to land a good deal on digital fronts due to the pricing.
Dulquer Salmaan reveals what happened during Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra’s OTT debut talks
Sharing how tough it has become to get multiple parties on board with films with budgets playing a huge part, Dulquer Salmaan also shared the reason for the delay in Lokah’s OTT debut and how they were on the verge of losing money on the project. “We went twice over the budget, and nobody wanted to buy the film. We didn’t have a big platform. Me and Tovi (Tovino Thomas), had to ‘cushion’ it. But even then, they were like, ‘You guys are there for barely so many minutes’.” He further added how the total number of minutes in his appearance is scrutinized during the talks, alongside multiple other minutes being considered while making the deal. “They’re like, if you are only there for many so minutes, then we’ll only pay X amount.”
Sharing how he has been a part of conversations where every last minute of his appearance was considered, and they even had to remove scenes to fit the agreement, reducing his screen time.
Meanwhile, Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra earned big at the box office on its release earlier this year on August 28. However, it found its way to OTT platforms much later, on October 31, when it began streaming on JioHotstar. Starring Kalyani Priyadarshan, Naslen, Sandy, Arun Kurian, and Chandu Salim Kumar, it saw cameos from multiple stars, making it a superhit. Meanwhile, Lokah 2 is currently in its planning stage with Tovino’s character, Chaathan, being central to the sequel, and Dulquer Salmaan expected to reprise his role as Charlie.
