OTT Platforms Archives - Lokmarg

‘Young Talent Making Niche Content, New Space On OTT Platform’

By LokMarg 2nd December 2023

Ashwin Singh, pursuing CA course and simultaneously learning filmmaking from his father Chandrapal Singh, says OTT format has opened up new vistas for creative content. His views:

The youth of today, irrespective of the trade or the career they are pursuing, are ready to take risks and prove their mettle. They are full of innovative ideas be it in the field of film making, launching businesses, contribution to the society, nation building and any other aspect you may think of. I will limit my views here for the filmmaking field.

Today, OTT (over-the-top) media services are proving to be an apt platform for new age filmmakers who bring with them a fresh creative narrative style. A few such recent examples are: Vasan Bala’s Monica O My Darling (starring Rajkummar Rao, Huma Qureshi and Radhika Apte, Love Hostel (starring Sanya Malhotra, Bobby Deol and Vikrant Massey) by cinematographer-turned-director Shanker Raman and the debut feature film Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee by Darbuka Siva.

The work of these directors focus on the less explored aspects like young love, revolutionary principles, social behavior and new noir genre. The youth are striking right cords on the existing and much experimented subjects and giving it a treatment that is easy to relate to or blow your senses away. One important feature of their work is a lower cost of production and release on the OTT and a higher success rate.

OTT releases are now a preferred choice with emerging directors, writers and producers and it reduces the struggle to find a suitable release window, dealing with distribution hassles and other logistics issues of cinematic release. They can now solely focus on content that tell human stories rooted in contemporary Indian experiences. The OTT reach and audience is growing very fast and the channels offer good money for the work. The publicity costs have also come down as most channels use their home OTT platform for launching the teasers. In future, hopefully, there will be a lot more such films that we get to see and India will nurture new talent in the entertainment sector.

ALSO READ: ‘Cinema Audience Is Evolving, Thanks To OTT’

As a young contributor to the film industry, who is still in the learning phase, what I would like to ask from the bigwigs and trendsetters of Bollywood is that we should allow our storytellers the creative freedom they desire. Let them explore the `universe’ with obvious wins and losses and do not see their work from immediate monetary gains.

A lot of change is going on in the way people are looking at cinematic stories and how the writers are developing characters and bringing their ideas on the OTT canvas. In the present scenario, the script is actually the hero and the work does not revolve around a central character; the multiplicity of characters have changed the rules of the game. Having said that, we cannot completely ignore the role of revenue too. But I am sure the new age filmmakers can strike a balance between their creative licence and the success chart which draws more subscribers to the OTT channels.

As told to Rajat Rai

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

‘A New Film Movement Is Shaping Up Over OTT Platforms’

By LokMarg 1st November 2023

Sanket ‘Katha’ Ray, a documentary film-maker and educator, says OTT platforms are slowly replacing the television programming format

With the democratisation of the medium, young filmmakers have broken the shackles of traditional filmmaking and are exploring stories beyond the studio-controlled environment. They are challenging the Bollywood formula and are bringing in stories which highlight the human condition in modern societies.

Take for example, Nasir (2020), a Tamil-language film directed by Arun Kartick. It is a portrait of a gentle person who negotiates with the communal tension of his surroundings with his poetry. His dreams, the hope for a better future, and his love for his wife, reflect the aspiration of every common man struggling with the complexity of the present-day society.

Another interesting film which captures the human condition is Asha Jaoar Majhe (2014) meaning Labour of Love, directed by Vikram Aditya Sengupta. The film is set against the backdrop of a spiraling recession that hit India a few years back. Faced with the uncertainty of losing their jobs, the film’s two central characters are under constant pressure to sustain their livelihood. However, even in the face of adversity, they seem to possess a serene power. Their demeanor displays a strange, comforting calmness.

One must also reflect on the contribution made by young filmmakers who have chosen documentary films to make their voices stand out. Among them is Payal Kapadia, whose film A Night of Knowing Nothing (2021), is expressed in the form of video-letters during an on-going student protest in a premiere film school.

ALSO READ: Apex Court Favours Regulation of OTT Content

These are a few examples, among many, which are shaping a new film movement in India. They are not necessarily entertaining as defined by commercial cinema, but they do portray and chronicle the human condition in today’s time.

OTT platforms are slowly replacing the television programming format. With easy access to the internet, youngsters are getting exposed to newer content every day. OTTs have provided a platform to young filmmakers to exhibit their works, bypassing the tedious and expensive module of theater-screening and television-broadcast. Their work is able to reach the audiences with ease, and a discourse of their work is shared in social media with an immediate effect. Hence, OTTs are proving to be a success among new filmmakers.

However, it is a long way to go as our audiences are still hung over with the typical masala movies. These new wave films are also challenging the film industry, which seems to be shifting its focus from ‘masala’ to meaningful films and web-series, to cater to the ever-growing audiences.

Post-Covid, the film industry, especially Bollywood, adopted the formula of ‘religion’, ‘nationalism’ and ‘us vs them’ to boost the sale of tickets. Apart from Pathan and Jawaan, none of the films really worked well at the box-office. With the onset of OTT and other platforms, the audience has been presented with choices of their liking. They have arrived at an understanding of films which are worth their time and money.

The medium of DVD has been systematically abolished and the films are easily available on the OTT platforms within a month of their release. This phenomenon has led to the decline of theater-viewing. Bollywood stars like Shahrukh and Salman Khan still draw the crowd. Rest of the ‘stars’ are trying to survive via OTTs.

As cliched as it may sound, whether it is a documentary, or a fictional drama, I prefer watching films which inspire me to become a better human being. As a practicing cinematographer and filmmaker, I would like to reach out to the people through various platforms. This includes film clubs and film societies too, which have a tradition of stimulating and insightful post-screening discussions. Not everyone can afford to book cinema halls for exhibiting their films. Hence, Youtube, Vimeo and other OTT platforms play a pivotal role in reaching out to the masses.

(The narrator graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, specialising in Cinematography and teaches filmmaking at Dr BR Ambedkar School of Specialised Excellence (SoSE), Delhi. His film This Is My Home (cinematographer and editor) has been showcased at the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival 2022, South Asian Short Film Festival (Kolkata, 2022), 14th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (2022), and was nominated for Sony’s World of Film Contest (2021). His other notable works include Village of Warriors (2021) and MidnightMirage (2021).)

As told to Amit Sengupta

For more details visit https://lokmarg.com/

‘Censorship on Cinema Won’t Work, Viewers Must Exercise Their Discretion’

By LokMarg 18th October 2023

Prashant Sehgal, an independent filmmaker, shares his views on the government directive on censoring language and content on OTT platforms. His views:

The entire issue of the content and language censorship began with the release of Gangs of Wasseypur. It was one of the earliest films that had foul language and objectionable scenes and it ended up getting an ‘A’ certificate.

Things changed drastically in a post-Covid world. The audience was suddenly introduced to the OTT platforms that were earlier being watched only by a select audience. The channels had stopped airing the regular saas-bahu soaps because of no shoots happening at all for a considerable time and the people locked in their homes took refuge in the OTT series, documentaries and films. Suddenly, a whole new world of realistic cinema and the visual medium opened to them.

And the audience shifted from television channels to OTT because it aired content that was relatable, closer to life, dialogues were in everyday spoken language replete with jargon, Hinglish, gaali and stuff. The foul language and objectionable content by way of narrative or story is what life actually is in rural and certain areas and states. It is characteristic to the dialect that they speak. This is with regard to the Indian content.

The international series from across the world have sexual content and nudity which is not a taboo in the West. Violence, gore and horror have no bounds on OTT. With subscription, entertainment on OTT is streamed on phones also. But how can you censor it? Can you actually stop people from watching porn? Everyone has a mobile these days and data is ample. Everything objectionable is on the internet. Can you censor that?

ALSO READ: ‘Find Ways to Counter Propaganda Cinema, Not Ban It’

It’s not possible. The audience has the right to discretion. Each and every series on OTT has a disclaimer plus the genre is detailed and potentially objectionable content is clearly indicated at the beginning of each episode. The audience today is educated, intelligent and aware and censorship will not work for such platforms. They will lose their authenticity and the audience will lose interest.

For the Indian shows as well, the audience is now global. All this censorship debate will not sit well with them. The OTT platforms have high revenues coming in. Every film released in theatres now is on OTT within no time. Plenty of themes and subjects that were not talked about earlier are now all over OTT by way of offbeat films, short stories, documentaries, series or feature films. There’s a whole world to explore on these platforms. Why ruin good content with unnecessary restrictions.

So much control is not possible in today’s time. OTT is more a reflection of the society, how it exists and behaves today. You put this in a cupboard, some other platform will come up. We need to teach the audience that they have the freedom to choose but they must learn to choose correctly. Children and young adults also need to be made more aware of when and what to watch.

(The narrator last year produced Mantra, a feature film with Rajat Kapoor, Kalki Koechlin and Adil Hussain)

As told to Deepa Gupta

India Bans Pakistan-Based OTT App Vidly TV

By LokMarg 12th December 2022

The Government on Monday issued an order to ban Pakistan-based OTT Platform Vidly TV after the streaming of the web series “Sevak: The Confessions”, said senior Adviser, of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Kanchan Gupta.

“Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, using emergency powers under IT Rules 2021, has issued directions on December 12, 2022, for the immediate blocking of the website, two mobile apps, four social media accounts, and one smart TV app of Pakistan-based OTT Platform Vidly TV,” Gupta said in a Twitter post.

He said Government’s action against Pakistan-based Vidly TV follows the web series “Sevak: The Confessions” which was “determined to be detrimental to national security, sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, and public order in the country.”

“Action against Pakistan-based Vidly TV follows the assessment that the provocative and wholly untrue web series “Sevak” was sponsored by Pakistan’s info ops apparatus. The first of the three episodes was released on November 26, 2022, the anniversary of Pakistani terror attacks on Mumbai in 2008,” Gupta said.

In June last year, India banned 59 Chinese mobile applications including the widely-used social media platforms such as TikTok, WeChat, and Helo keeping in view the threat to the nation’s sovereignty and security.

The majority of the apps banned in the June 29 order were red-flagged by intelligence agencies over concerns that they were collecting user data and possibly also sending them “outside”. (ANI)

Prince Harry Not On King Charles’ Coronation List: Royal Expert

By LokMarg 10th December 2022

There’s been quite a lot of noise surrounding the documentary series ‘Harry and Meghan’ which is now on the OTT platform Netflix.

Royal expert Tom Bower recently spoke to Page Six – an entertainment media house based in the US and said that there are very minimal chances that Prince Harry would now be greeted with a warm welcome in the UK.
Tom Bowers told Page Six, “I can’t imagine they’ll be welcome. I don’t think Harry will ever be welcome back in England.”

He also added that there’s a possibility that Harry and Meghan won’t be on the guestlist at Prince Charles III’s coronation either.

Bowers told Page Six that Harry has become an outsider Meghan has equally distanced herself from the rest of the British royal family.

“I think he’s just cutting himself off from it all. You know, he is turning himself into an outcast, and I don’t think anyone’s going to be looking to — to see if he’s welcome here,” Bower said, “And … with her, she’s finished now for sure. And he’s on the verge of being finished.”

According to Bowers, Prince Harry’s relationship with his father King Charles III has also been damaged.

The author of “Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors” told Page Six that “there was never any chance of it (reconciliation between Royal family and Prince Harry and Meghan),” despite the fact that many people believed the royal family and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would patch fences following Queen Elizabeth II’s passing on September 8.

“The whole problem is that Charles hates confrontation, and someone who had dinner with him earlier this week told me that he wants to stay out of it,” Bower explained to Page Six.

“But I think that it’ll be impossible for him to stay out of it,” he added.

The royal family hasn’t issued any statement regarding the documentary series so far, as per Page Six. (ANI)

Birthday Girl Yami’s ‘Lost’ To Release On OTT Platforms

By LokMarg 28th November 2022

Yami Gautam Dhar’s ‘Lost’ had its Asian Premiere at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and at the 13th Annual Chicago South Asian Film Festival where it received an overwhelming response and now the much-awaited movie is all set to start it’s OTT journey.

Taking to Instagram, Yami who has her birthday today, treated her fans with exciting news about her film.
Sharing the poster of her film, she wrote, “On my big day, sharing this special announcement with all of you..The journey begins soon! #LostOnZEE5.”

The film ‘Lost’ is an emotional social thriller representing a higher quest, a search for lost values of empathy and integrity. Inspired by true events, ‘Lost’ is the story of a bright young crime reporter in a relentless search for the truth behind the sudden disappearance of a young theatre activist. An investigative thriller that kept the IFFI viewers on the edge of their seats, ‘Lost’ is written by Shyamal Sengupta and the dialogues are by Ritesh Shah.

Yami shared her experience, “‘Lost was a special experience for me, and I have been eagerly waiting to see how the audience is going to react. I absolutely cannot wait for the release and am happy to have my first association with ZEE5 for this one!”

Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said, “It has been our endeavour at ZEE5 to collaborate with the best-in-class storytellers to tell meaningful and entertaining stories and ‘Lost’ is the right step in that direction to entertain our viewers with one more unique content on ZEE5. The response received by ‘Lost’ at IFFI is encouraging and we are confident that the direct-to-digital release of the film on ZEE5 will be loved by the audience world over”.

Shariq Patel, CBO of Zee Studios said, “It was a monumental moment to witness the appreciation that the audience was showering the movie with. It is quite reassuring to know that movies like ‘LOST’ are made and loved and I am especially glad to have stood witness to this and it just reinforces the trust I have that it will be loved on its release.”

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, who directed ‘Lost’ added “It is always a magical moment to watch the fruit of your toil be as loved as it is. The screening at IFFI was truly an experience for me. Now we are really excited to see it reach a wider audience with ZEE5”.

Producer Shareen Mantri said, “ZEE5 is the perfect platform for ‘Lost’ with the kind of viewership the OTT platform has. Having enthralled the audiences at IFFI and other international festivals, we are excited about the film’s global digital release”.

The film is produced by Zee Studios. ‘Lost’ also stars Pankaj Kapur, Rahul Khanna, Neil Bhoopalam, Pia Bajpiee and Tushar Pandey in pivotal roles. (ANI)

‘OTT Platforms, TV Can Never Replace Theatre Experience’

By LokMarg 18th November 2021

Milee Banerjee, a movie buff from Kolkata, is happy that Covid restrictions on movie halls have been lifted and the audience is taking all precautions

If you want to know how much my family and I love movies, let me disclose that my father named me Milee after Jaya Bachchan’s famous movie by the same name. It is my father who instilled a love for movies in me. We ‘bonded’ the most over Bond flicks. And it was a Bond movie – Daniel Craig’s swan song No Time To Die – that I went to watch along with my friends as soon as the Covid restrictions on theatres were lifted in Kolkata.

It was such a thrilling experience to be entering the theatres after what felt like decades, though it was only a 1.5 years’ gap. It was as sentimental as going to the theatres for the first time in my life with my family, or watching cult classics like Jurassic Park or Hum Aapke Hain Kaun with them. The theatre management had taken total care to follow Covid regulations and the place was spic and span. The seating arrangements were such that there was a gap of one seat.

Given this arrangement, I would say a large number of people turned out once the theatres reopened. The audience were also following all regulations. The whole movie watching experience was smooth and delightful one I would say. Oh, and most importantly, surprisingly the price of tickets didn’t increase by much.

***Banerjee (with actor Makrand Deshpande and director Anurag Basu) is a fan of action and horror movies***

I am an action movies/ horror genre fan and such movies make sense mostly in theatres with their special effects and surround sound systems. It makes you forget time. Moreover, you can’t pause the movies in theatres at will, unlike on your phone or laptop, so you focus on each scene completely, thus respecting the work of the cast and the crew involved.

The second movie that I watched in theatres was Venom and I went alone for this one. I have always been comfortable going to the theatres alone and feel that post pandemic other people should get comfortable with the idea too. Sometimes a movie is the best way to lift your mood and as the pandemic has shown us, life is too precious to not watch the kind of movies you like. Live life to the fullest, even if you don’t find others who enjoy the same genre as you.

ALSO READ: ‘Street Food Lovers Are Back With A Vengeance’

The pandemic has brought about major changes in how we handle many important areas of our lives, be it travel, education, healthcare and even entertainment. The OTT platform literally exploded during the pandemic, for entertainment (or the arts) can help soothe our frayed nerves when everything is uncertain, ease loneliness and even give us hope for the future.

Sometimes immersing yourself in a movie or series is the best way to shut oneself from the gloom and doom of news. I bought subscriptions to two streaming services and immersed myself into the small screens of my phone/laptop. But I was still missing the surround sound experience we get in theatres. Plus, when others in the audience clap, laugh or cry you feel connected at a human level. I watched The Red Notice starring my favourite Gal Gadot & Dwayne Johnson, and of course Ryan Reynolds on my phone. I wish I could have watched that one in the theatres too, but I didn’t have time.

A single movie can bring people out of a gloomy mood and a single actor’s words can make the public follow guidelines they otherwise wouldn’t. But the audience’s role has also widened. More people have now begun appreciating good cinema, because the lockdown gave them some great quality content. Mindless entertainment is on its way out.