OTT Release of Sitaare Zameen Par:Back when Sitaare Zameen Par was about to drop, Aamir Khan made headlines by taking a firm stand: he would not be offering the film to OTT platforms. He was super clear about it too with no fast-tracking the film to streaming right after it hits theaters. Those big platforms with their fat stacks of cash? He gave them a polite but pretty solid nope. Apparently, someone dangled ₹125 crore pre-sale deal in front of him, and he still passed. Before the film’s release, Aamir emphasized that Sitaare Zameen Par would release only in theatres.
“I am a cinema guy … I do believe in cinema and theatres”
His big reason? He just loves cinemas. He genuinely thinks that shoving movies onto streaming right after release absolutely trashes what makes going to the movies special. Why let people watch it “for free”, when movie halls are out here struggling?
Kamal Gianchandani (President of MAI) posted a statement (on X) thanking Aamir for his decision to release only in cinemas and calling Sitaare Zameen Par a “significant show of confidence in theatres and the shared magic of the movie-going experience.”
OTT Release of Sitaare Zameen Par
The film released in theaters on June 20, 2025. He let it breathe. No sneaky streaming moves, none of that. Then, after a decent wait, he made it available on YouTube as a pay-per-view ₹100 a pop. Honestly, super easy for fans. Aamir said the whole idea was to keep a nice, big gap he wanted about six months, minimum between theaters and streaming. The usual OTT deals barely gave two months.
He pointed out that YouTube’s reach is huge with millions of eyeballs every day. So, if you’re doing PPV there, you bypass the middleman and go straight to the audience.
Why Aamir Khan Changed His Mind on OTT Release?
Over time, Aamir Khan has softened the earlier absolute “no-OTT” position. He is now saying he would be open to releasing Sitaare Zameen Par on OTT platforms like Netflix or Amazon provided certain conditions are met. That same five-to-six-month window. He’s still all about respecting the big screen, and making sure everyone gets paid right, including the folks who make the cinema experience possible.
Even after saying no to that monster OTT deal, his YouTube PPV experiment actually paid off like, “20x better than normal” paid off according to him. That’s not pocket change. He does admit the OTT offer was seriously tempting, but for him, the long game felt smarter.
To sum it up, Aamir stood his ground, said no to quick OTT money, experimented with YouTube PPV, and (so far) it’s looking like a decent gamble. Now, he is now open to it as long as the post-theatre window is longer (five-six months), and the model allows for fair value both for cinemas and for his team.
