Actor-producer Nagarjuna on Monday confirmed that his upcoming film Wild Dog will not release directly on an OTT platform, as announced earlier. Instead, now the film is set for a grand theatrical release on April 2. “The film was completed last November. And we had so many questions like when will theatres open? If the theatres open, will people step out to watch the film? During that period of uncertainty, we got a good offer from Netflix and we accepted it,” Nagarjuna explained while addressing the press in Hyderabad on Monday.

He added that the response of the audience at the box office for recent movies inspired them to stick to the traditional theatrical release. “When Krack released for Sankranti in theatres, it recorded a good collection and became a hit. And then in February, we saw Uppena, starring new faces, becoming a big hit. These films gave us the confidence that if we deliver good films, people will support them. So we pulled back from the OTT deal,” said Nagarjuna.

“Wild Dog was conceived, shot and edited for a big-screen experience,” he added. The filmmakers noted that Wild Dog will be made available on Netflix after 40-45 days of the film’s release in theatres.

Talking about the film, Nagarjuna noted that Wild Dog is a fictional story inspired by real-life incidents. It is set in the aftermath of serial bomb blasts that rattled Hyderabad in 2013. The film follows a team of combat-hardened officers set out on a mission to hunt down those behind the serial bombings.

Wild Dog is written and directed by Ashishor Solomon. Besides Nagarjuna, the film also stars Dia Mirza, Saiyami Kher and Atul Kulkarni. The trailer will drop on March 10.