South Indian OTT platforms roll out a packed slate from August 3 to 9, with new Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu titles spanning romance, crime, rural drama and comedy. Highlights include Lenin, Idhayam Murali, Uyir, Nooru Saami, Vadhandhi Season 2, Kattalan and Sathyathil Sambhavichathu, arriving on Netflix, Prime Video, ZEE5, JioHotstar, Sun NXT and Manorama Max.
The first full week of August brings a strong lineup of Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu titles to streaming platforms. Idhayam Murali, Uyir, Nooru Saami, Vadhandhi Season 2, Kattalan, Sathyathil Sambhavichathu and Lenin are all making their way to Netflix, Prime Video, ZEE5, JioHotstar, Sun NXT and Manorama Max this week, giving viewers a mix of romance, crime investigation, rural drama and comedy to choose from. Here is a close look at the South Indian OTT Releases this week (August 3 to 9).
Lenin arrives on ZEE5 Telugu on August 7, less than a month after its theatrical release on July 10. Directed by Murali Kishor Abburu, the rural action drama stars Akhil Akkineni as an orphan named Lenin, raised alongside his adoptive mother Jayanthi's son in the village of Sriramapuram. After serving a prison sentence, Lenin returns home and finds the village turning against him, and the story unfolds through the eighteen day Draupadi festival, a local tradition that strictly forbids violence, as old rivalries, a manipulative MLA and buried family history come back into play.
Bhagyashri Borse plays the female lead, with Sivaji, Sunil, Brahmaji, Ramki and Easwari Rao in supporting roles. The film went on to become Akhil Akkineni's biggest box office success to date, grossing more than ₹67 crore worldwide and marking a comeback after a string of underperforming releases.
Idhayam Murali begins streaming on Netflix on August 7, about four weeks after its theatrical release on July 10. The Tamil coming-of-age romantic drama stars Atharvaa in the lead role, alongside Preity Mukhundhan, who plays twin sisters in the story, and Kayadu Lohar, with Fahadh Faasil appearing in an extended cameo. The film follows Idhaya through childhood crushes, teenage romance and missed chances, tracing how unspoken feelings shape the choices he makes as he grows up.
It is the directorial debut of Aakash Baskaran, who also wrote and produced the film under his Dawn Pictures banner. The title itself is a tribute to Atharvaa's late father, actor Murali, who starred in a film called Idhayam in 1991. Idhayam Murali collected close to ₹24 crore worldwide during its theatrical run.
Uyir arrives on JioHotstar on August 4, streaming in Malayalam along with dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Directed by M. Padmakumar, known for Mamangam, the investigative drama stars Roshan Mathew as Ajeeb Rahman, a probationary sub-inspector posted at Dharmadam police station in Kannur who is still troubled by his younger sister's unresolved disappearance from years earlier. When the decomposed body of an unidentified woman is found inside an abandoned well, Ajeeb and his colleague ASI Joy begin an investigation that eventually identifies her as a local labourer named Shobha, through a tattoo on her body. The film is inspired by real incidents from a police officer's career and also stars Baiju Santhosh, Saiyami Kher and Athulya Chandra. It released in theatres in June to mixed reviews overall, though Roshan Mathew's performance was widely praised.
Nooru Saami makes its digital debut on ZEE5 Tamil on August 7, a little over a month and a half after its theatrical release on June 19. Written and directed by Sasi, the film stars Vijay Antony and Swasika and centres on Selvi, a widowed mother who spent years raising her two sons in a conservative village. When she later considers finding companionship again, her decision meets resistance from her family and the wider community, and the film follows her attempt to balance her own wishes against long-standing social expectations. The story is based on a real incident from 2022 that the director came across while watching a television show. Vijay Antony's nephew, Ajay Dhishan, also plays a significant role in the film.
The second season of the Tamil suspense thriller Vadhandhi premieres globally on Prime Video on August 7, streaming in Tamil with Telugu and Hindi dubs and subtitles in fifteen languages. M. Sasikumar stars as SI Moosa Raza, an honest and persistent police officer investigating skeletal remains uncovered during a highway construction project in Madurai.
The eight-episode season is created, written and directed by Andrew Louis, who also helmed the first season, and is set against the backdrop of the Jallikattu festival, continuing the franchise's focus on the gap between rumour and reality. The cast also includes Yashwanth, Anagha Maruthora, Aparna Das, Vivek Prasanna, Revathy Sharma and Arjun Nandhakumar. The series is produced by Pushkar and Gayatri's Wallwatcher Films, the team also behind Suzhal: The Vortex.
Kattalan begins streaming on Manorama Max on August 7 in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. The Malayalam action thriller, written and directed by debutant Paul George, is set in 1995 in the fictional forest hamlet of Aanakolli, on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where recurring elephant attacks have left villagers desperate. A hunter named Maari is called in to deal with the animals, but ends up using the opportunity to seize control over the region through an ivory smuggling network, drawing him into conflict with a rival criminal operation. Antony Varghese leads the cast alongside Rajisha Vijayan, Kabir Duhan Singh, Sunil, Dushara Vijayan, Jagadish and Siddique. The film released in theatres on May 28 and had a modest box office run against its reported ₹50 crore budget.
Sathyathil Sambhavichathu, which translates loosely to ‘what really happened,’ starts streaming on Sun NXT on August 7. Written and directed by Prasanth Mohan, the Malayalam comedy mystery is built around a long-standing village legend about treasure hidden beneath local ponds and wells, which only one man has ever claimed to find. When fresh clues about the treasure resurface, they set off a chain of misunderstandings and comic complications among the villagers. The film stars Akash Menon and Dilshana in the lead roles, with a large supporting cast that includes Dileesh Pothan, Johny Antony and Sreekanth Murali. It had its theatrical release on June 19.
| Title | Release Date | Platform |
| Uyir | August 4 | JioHotstar |
| Idhayam Murali | August 7 | Netflix |
| Nooru Saami | August 7 | ZEE5 |
| Vadhandhi: Season 2 | August 7 | Prime Video |
| Kattalan | August 7 | Manorama Max |
| Sathyathil Sambhavichathu | August 7 | Sun NXT |
| Lenin | August 7 | ZEE5 |