Aamir Khan dominated the news cycle last week by announcing that Sitaare Zameen Par would be available on YouTube from August 1 for Rs 100 per view — just six weeks after its theatrical release. Bypassing the industry’s eight-week digital release norm and backtracking on his ‘theatre-exclusive’ stand, evoked mixed reactions from audiences and industry insiders alike.

Now, two days after the film’s YouTube premiere, mid-day speaks to audience members, trade analysts, and exhibitors to understand whether Khan’s decision has the potential to become a game-changer in film exhibition and revenue generation for Indian producers. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh believes the actor-producer’s decision undermines a film’s theatrical business, which he had earlier claimed to safeguard.

“This is a debatable issue. At one point, he said that he was looking out for the theatre people by refusing a digital release. Then suddenly, he is releasing it on YouTube in six weeks. He even made a statement, saying, ‘I’m protecting the cinema. I want the theatres to survive.’ How do you expect theatres to survive if people are going to watch it in six weeks in their home for Rs 100? It’s a bold move, but it doesn’t benefit theatres,” he says, before adding that perhaps the superstar’s logic is to reach areas with minimal or no theatre access, given YouTube’s wider reach thanks to the growing digital penetration in India. “Maybe his logic is that at smaller centres where there are no theatres, people still have access to YouTube. That is understandable,” adds Adarsh.