Vikramaditya Motwane on How 'Udaan' is Finally Profitable After 15 Years
Vikramaditya Motwane and Dulquer Salmaan break down the pullback reshaping budgets, theatres and indie survival.
Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane believes the streaming ecosystem is standing at a crossroads, with the "early optimism" being replaced by industry-wide confusion.
Motwane, who is behind some of the most acclaimed streaming titles like Sacred Games, Jubilee and Black Warrant, shed light on the current OTT landscape and said the ambition that the streaming platforms had when it started ten years ago has "shifted" because the growth does not justify the budget.
During THR India's Producers Roundtable 2025, Motwane said the streaming space lacks structure and added, "It's very haphazard. You don't know which film will get picked up for streaming. In the last six months, the only one that I've heard of that actually got a streaming deal is Humans in the Loop which came out on Netflix."
He explains how streamers increasingly encourage producers to release theatrically with no assured support afterward. Yet he maintains that streaming remains the essential long-term foundation for indies. “Eventually, an indie film is going to have a lifetime, though not from the theatrical box-office.. but from streaming.”
Motwane illustrates this with his smashing 2010 directorial debut Udaan, which found profitability more than a decade after its release. “Anurag called me last year and said, 'Congratulations, Udaan is finally profitable!' After like 15 years. It is only licensing rights that made the film financially successful eventually.”
Actor-producer Dulquer Salmaan, who was also present for the roundtable, noted how he has witnessed the same correction play out in the Malayalam film industry.
“When they (OTT) pulled back, in terms of numbers, we went from 250 odd registrations of new films to 60 something. That was a very scary time," Dulquer said, recalling how actors he worked with would openly share their struggles.
"We thought we could go bigger with budgets, we could tell all kinds of stories... there was a major cushioning safety. And then suddenly it got pulled back,” Dulqiuer said and added, how for the Malayalam film industry, it has always been a theatrical-first approach.