“When we decided to begin Reelmonk.com, we always pitched it as a platform for same day release of Malayalam movies. But to our disappointment as well as for many of our users, we never managed to do that. We have hosted quite a few amazing movies like Njan Steve Lopez and Nee-na on this platform but that dream of same day release has always evaded us,” says Vivek Paul, Co-Founder and COO of ReelMonk.com
“So it is with great pride that I would like to inform you that Ottaal, the national award winning Malayalam movie directed by noted filmmaker Jayaraj will become the first movie in India to be released online through www.reelmonk.com, an independent movie platform, on the same day of its theatrical release. The movie that will hit the theatres today (Nov. 6th) will also be available on Reelmonk.com for downloads at prices starting at INR 180.”
Ottaal will become the first film in India to release online, through an independent platform, on the same day, as it’s theatrical release scheduled for today (November 6, 2015). Film producers can release and promote their movies across 2.5 million screens of Indians cross the globe through reelmonk.com
Until last year, Keralites living abroad missed out on over 90% of the releases in the Malayalam film industry since very few films were assured a theatre release overseas. Most of them were forced to resort to downloading them through torrent networks which was illegal and came in very poor picture quality.
However, of late, thanks to Reelmonk, producers have started to legally release Malayalam films for foreign audiences that can be streamed or downloaded anywhere, anytime within a few months after the theatrical release. The films are released on Reelmonk in Full HD quality and can be downloaded to a laptop or PC or even streamed to TV via HDMI.
“Malayalam movie industry is rich in diversity of great content. I have noticed great interest for Malayalam movies from a global community of movie lovers. Reelmonk.com will give them the opportunity to access the Malayalam movies they love, easily especially with features like pay per download and subtitles,” said Jayaraj, director of Ottaal.
Reelmonk.com, created by Xincoz Labs, is the brainchild of three 22 year olds from Kochi – Blaise Crowly, Vivek Paul and Gautham Vyas and is promoted by Konglo Ventures. “After Ottaal won the Best Film award this year, it’s caught the interest of the foreign audience and our users have been constantly following up with us to release it since then”, said Blaise Crowly, CEO, Reelmonk.com.
“Till recently, most people were not ready to pay for something that was already available through torrent networks. But today, there is a market and producers are recognizing the revenue potential of online release. By reaching viewers in places where the films are not available through theatres or TV channels producers are now discovering an additional revenue source. The only people who are adversely affected by us are the movie pirates” he added.
“When we decided to begin Reelmonk.com, we always pitched it as a platform for same day release of Malayalam movies. But to our disappointment as well as for many of our users, we never managed to do that. We have hosted quite a few amazing movies like Njan Steve Lopez and Kanyaka Talkies on this platform but that dream of same day release has always evaded us. We had never imagined it would be this difficult. In this industry the concept of Online Release simply didn’t exist, let alone same day release.
But we think it was worth the wait. And what better way to do it than with what is literally the Best Film of the year.” Says Vivek Paul, Chief Operating Officer, Reelmonk.com. “Lot of effort and sacrifice goes into creating a movie and it is shattering when elements such as piracy, lack of releasing platforms and other issues destroy this work. Piracy happens due to non-availability of content. When content is easy to access at a reasonable price we believe piracy will take a back seat”, he added.
Ottaal, an adaptation of Vanka, a short story by Russian writer Anton Chekhov, has won two national awards for Best Screenplay and Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film in August. It has been selected to the Indian Panorama of the International Film Festival of India to be held in Goa this year.
