Pankaj Tripathi on OTT release of films: I anyway never focused on how much money my films would earn

Actor Pankaj Tripathi says he couldn’t understand why even the audience had started taking an interest in the box office collections of a film, when that’s actually the job of the producer or the director.

With several big-budget films heading for a direct-to-OTT release, one thing is sure that box office collections wold no longer decide a film’s success. It’s only the content that would call the shots.

Actor Pankaj Tripathi will be seen next in the film Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl on an OTT platform.

Actor Pankaj Tripathi, whose film, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, is set for a digital release, says that he was never the one to worry about the number game anyway.

“When my films used to release in theatres, even then I would not be tensed about figures, and neither would I focus on the opening or box office collections. For me, there is no difference in the earlier and current times, and in rather, it is about acting, and whether it is a good or a bad film,” he says.

The 43-year-old, who plays the role of Janhvi Kapoor’s father in the film, adds that box office can’t always be the benchmark to judge a film’s fate.

He explains, “Many a times, even good films don’t work at the box office, people don’t come to watch them, but this doesn’t affect the quality of the film. I was never in the number game, and neither did it affect me.”

Tripathi prefers to place his bet on the content, and admits that OTT platforms will lead to a level playing field that might not have been the case with the theatres. For now, with OTT releases, the focus would be on whether indeed the film’s content has the power to grab attention or not.

However, Mirzapur actor gets surprised seeing how everyone, including the viewers, have become much obsessed with numbers.

“Concentrating on numbers is the producer’s work, how much the film will earn. I saw, how even the common people started focusing on collections until recently and they would talk about figures on social media. Mujhe lagta tha aam public ko isse kya lena dena, paise aapko toh milenge nahi na. Trade people and producers understand this. Do we talk about how much say, a shoe company makes in India?,” Tripathi questions.

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