Having announced the release of RRR on its platform on a Pay-per-view basis, Zee5 now reverses its decision Zee5 had announced that it would start streaming SS Rajamouli’s RRR from May 20 on its platform. The premiere date, May 20, also happens to be the birthday of Jr NTR, who is one of the film's lead characters. However, there was a catch as Zee5 subscribers would have to watch the film on a pay-per-view basis. A special pack of Rs 699 was launched according to which the subscribers would get to watch RRR besides the Zee5’s annual subscription. Naturally, existing subscribers were furious at being asked to shell out extra money and lambasted the OTT giant on social media for what they termed as ‘crass exploitation’, forcing the portal to rethink their decision. Zee 5 has now made the film free for all the existing users and new subscribers who have purchased the Rs 699 plan would get three extra months of subscription free of cost. While it is a fact that Zee 5 must have shelled out a huge amount for acquiring the streaming rights to a film like ‘RRR’, it cannot pass on the cost to the consumers who are already paying an annual subscription fee for the content on the platform, is what the people opine and rather believe that the acquisition of such content (big ticket films) will result in increasing the subscriber base to the company. If this ‘model of revenue’ does not work out, its strategists would have to come up with smarter ways to keep the cash flow going, but not at the expense of the geese that lay the golden egg.