Rana Daggubati, Sujoy Ghosh insist content is different for OTT and theatres

In the theatres versus OTT debate, actor Rana Daggubati and filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh have said that the two platforms are suitable for two different kinds of content.

With multiple films skipping the theatres and releasing directly on streaming platforms, including Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana’s Gulabo Sitabo, and Vidya Balan’s Shakuntala, the industry has been debating the business impact of the decision. Theatre owners have made their displeasure with the move while the film industry and stremaing services have explained their reasons.

Rana Daggubati and Sujoy Ghosh talk about OTT and theatres.

In a conversation, however, actor Rana Daggubati and filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh insist it is not an either or option as different platforms work for different kinds of projects.

A Pinkvilla report quoted Rana as saying, “Everyone takes a call on what is OTT and what is film. As a company, as an organisation or even as actors, what we realise is that anything that leads to drama and issues of censorship, where one can’t tell that story on theatre, we completely moved all of that to OTT. But, anything that is still large and spectacle, we will continue to back it for the theatres for a simple reason that man has; from the time of Colosseum, we needed a place to go together and watch something big. There’s a more dramatic way of narrating characters in anything that is OTT. But, when you watch Star Wars or Avengers and when you watch anything that is big and you want it to blow your mind off, that usually has to come back to the cinemas.”

Sujoy also said OTT gives makers more independence. He said, “This COVID is just a medical situation and if tomorrow there is a tablet saying that the COVID is going to away if you popped this tablet, everyone is going to flock back to the theatres. I am making a product for cinema, my thinking is different, my writing is different, my approach to the whole thing is different, whereas on the OTT I am a little freer, more open to doing and writing and I have a longer time to tell a story. So, as a creative person, I get different forms of liberations given the platforms. But I think there are all here to stay, none of them is going anywhere, they are all going to co-exist. COVID per se is just a medical condition.”

Soon after it was announced a few titles will be released directly on its video platform, theatre owners expressed their displeasure at the development. However, the Producers’ Guild of India said in a statement, “It is disappointing to see abrasive and unconstructive messaging from some of our colleagues in the exhibition sector.”

INOX had said in a statement earlier, “INOX would like to express extreme displeasure and disappointment on an announcement made by a production house today, to release their movie directly on an OTT platform by skipping the theatrical window run. The decision of the production house to deviate from the globally prevalent content windowing practice is alarming and disconcerting.”

PVR also expressed disagreement with this release model and said in a press statement, “We are disappointed with Gulabo Sitabo’s decision to go straight to a streaming platform. We were hoping that the producers would accede to our request to hold back their film’s release till cinemas reopened.”

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