9 Hours release date is out. Disney+ Hotstar has announced that the Telugu-language Hotstar Special period series will premiere on June 2. The streaming platform shared a poster, while announcing the same on Twitter. The new 9 Hours poster features a character standing with his back to us, so we naturally don’t get to see his face. We, however, get a look at some of the other characters.  Niranjan Kaushik, who previously directed ad films, and Jacob Verghese (Prithvi IAS) serve as directors on 9 Hours. Krish Jagarlamudi, the director of films such as Gautamiputra Satakarni and NTR: Kathanayakudu, is credited as the showrunner on 9 Hours.

Headlined by Taraka Ratna, Ajay, Vinod Kumar, Madhu Shalini and Ravi Varma, the 9 Hours cast has Preethi Asrani, Ankith Koyya, Jwala Koti, and Monica Reddy in supporting roles. While Ratna is best known for playing the antagonist in the 2009 thriller Amaravathi, Shalini acted in films such as the Hindi-language actioner Department and the 2015 release Thoongaavanam.

9 Hours revolves around three prisoners who escape to carry out a robbery. Their big challenge, however, is not the robbery itself but the fact that they have to be back before the prison’s next roll call. These plans go awry when they land up in a bank and the police get involved. 9 Hours is produced by Rajeev Reddy Y. and Sai Babu Jagarlamudi under their First Frame Entertainments banner.

The new Hotstar Specials series comes at a time when the Telugu film industry is trying to produce more original content for subscription-based streaming services in India, colloquially known as OTT platforms. The 2021 Netflix anthology Pitta Kathalu was regarded as a gamechanger for the industry on this front, as it brought together filmmakers such as Nag Ashwin, Nandini Reddy, Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam, and Sankalp Reddy. The Allu Aravind-backed Aha is making similar efforts, with titles such as the thriller series 11th Hour, the sci-fi thriller Kudi Yedamaithe, and the adult comedy 3 Roses.

All eight episodes of 9 Hours will be out June 2 at 12am on Disney+ Hotstar.