The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant change in how people consume content, with the increasing popularity of OTT platforms leading to a reluctance among audiences to spend money on movie theater tickets. Consequently, they prefer to wait for releases on OTT platforms instead. Sri Crazyminds, speaking after his film editing session at the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival (BISFF), notes the impact of the proliferation of OTT platforms post-lockdown, making everything accessible on mobile devices. He emphasizes that people's attention spans have dwindled to just twenty seconds, making it challenging to motivate individuals comfortably watching content at home to make the effort to go to a theater to watch a movie. Unless the content is exceptionally compelling, audiences are unlikely to choose a big-screen viewing experience.

The success of Kannada films is linked to the quality of the content, with Malayalam cinema traditionally excelling in this regard. Films that thrive in theaters are typically high-budget productions with star-studded casts, highlighting a significant disparity between big-budget releases and content-driven cinema. Trailers play a crucial role in attracting audiences to cinemas, as many now opt for legal OTT platforms over illegal downloads. Releasing a film in the current landscape comes with substantial expenses, requiring at least ₹1 crore for a trouble-free release.

Sri Crazyminds observes that an abundance of choices in the film industry can lead to viewer confusion. In the past, Kannada films primarily competed with Telugu and Tamil movies, but now Malayalam films are also released concurrently. Furthermore, there is a decline in enthusiasm for vernacular languages, influencing the industry dynamics.Around 400 movies are submitted to the censor board for approval, but only about 200 of them are actually released in theaters. I believe that all these factors together represent the core of the problem.