With big screen feature films getting terrible responses on the digital platform, it is the made-for-OTT projects that are awaited with bated breath by home viewers.
Subhash K Jha lists three most eagerly anticipated projects of the monsoon season.
The Family Man Season 2
Long delayed, but now ready to hit Amazon Prime Video, the second season of The Family Man looks even more exciting than the first.
Showrunners Raj & DK and Director Suparn Verma have upped the suspense quotient as Manoj Bajpayee (Shrikant Tiwari) and Sharib Hashmi (J K Talpade) explore yet another intriguing case.
Bajpayee's wife, played by Priyamani, continues to be suspicious.
The surprise factor is Telugu superstar Samantha Akkineni, who makes her Hindi debut in a role that is so grey it could easily be negative.
I now have information that The Family Man, Season 2, will stream on June 4; the trailer will release on May 19.
Also coming in from informed sources is the news that Amazon made no substantial cuts in the content.
"A little bit of snipping here and there. But that's it. There is no real change, no big cut. Amazon went through the entire footage of Season 2 with a toothcomb to ensure there is nothing politically incorrect in Season 2," the source informs me.
Dhamaka
Netflix's most expensive custom-made feature film directed by Ram Madhvani of Neerja and Aarya fame is a desi adaptation of the Korean thriller Terror Live.
But Dhamaka moves far away from the original.
Madhvani, I am told, has created his own space, ironed out the rough edges in the original, and made the plot far more taut.
Kartik plays a ruthless reporter called Arjun Pathak of a news channel named Bharosa 24, negotiating with a terrorist to save the city from attack.
A source close to the project says, "This one is going to be a game-changer for Kartik Aaryan. Ram Madhvani has extracted the best out of the young star. Dhamaka will take Kartik to the next level of stardom."
Delhi Crime 2
Netflix is very tight-lipped about this project. And with reason.
One of the brilliant actors from Season 1 tells me Season 2 is even more volatile, hard-hitting and disturbing.
The same superlative cast returns -- Shefali Shah, Rasika Duggal, Adil Hussain and Rajesh Tailang -- plus several new actors.
The release date is awaited.
