National Cinema Day: How OTT changed the concept of cinema watching!

Cinema, ever since its inception, has breathed and also bled. It has fueled the nation’s economy with the enormity of its business but also exasperated itself when it went empty on supposed juggernauts. Back in the 80s, when video parlors came in, it was a massive setback for the movie business. What required to step out was available right at homes at far more economical price. Filmmakers Subhash Ghai and Sajid Khan recalled the time in some of their interactions.

Ghai once revealed how he made his blockbuster Karma in 1986 when the fraternity was fighting a monstrous battle. Khan, while interacting with cinema students, said how and why the 80s was the worst phase of Hindi cinema. How filmmakers were forced to make smaller films, quality notwithstanding, only to keep churning out the revenue for the industry that was hit hard by the video cassettes.

Slowly and gradually, television took over and the completion became tougher. Cut to 2017-2018, we have Netflix, Amazon, Disney Plus Hotstar, and hundreds of other platforms that we collectively call the space of OTT, which means over the top. The first show on OTT that blew up was Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane’s Sacred Games. People had not seen something like this before. Multiple episodes, intimidating characters, infectious tone, and a fierce narrative made the ball rolling. Today, we have made uncountable shows on the same theme till 2022.

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The pandemic was unarguably the worst phase of Hindi cinema, worse than the 2009 producers-multiplex strike. At least there, we had all the older films re-releasing but this time, it was nearly the end of theatrical business. Massively mounted and anticipated films were lying in cans and cold-storage, two of them even got infinitely postponed due to the economic crunch. And we, as a nation, were sitting at homes and consuming a variety of content.

OTT made the viewers aware of the possibility of how far we can reach as far as content is concerned. Aspiring and ambitious filmmakers have explored untapped and unique territories and turfs and exploded with their imagination on the small screens. The lack of censorship has allowed them to think even more fearlessly, to express what their mind and heart desire. But has all of this changed the way we perceive or watch cinema? Maybe not.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama during the promotions of Heropanti 2, said he was hopeful that post pandemic, the tastes of the audiences would evolve, but they did not. He openly expressed his displeasure at the kind of films that were being lapped up. This is truly a conundrum. What works on OTT may not gratify us equally on celluloid. And a film like RRR, KGF: Chapter 2, and Brahmastra are impossible to imagine on our mobiles or television sets, for all the razzmatazz they carry along with their craft.

OTT hasn’t changed anything, it maybe just an excuse for naysayers and connoisseurs, both, to have further debates on cinema. And as long as debates live, cinema also does.

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