Gulshan Devaiah says theatre and OTT will co-exist: No medium will be taken over by the other

Actor Gulshan Devaiah says while theatre has its own charm that can never be replaced, OTT too has created its place in the heart of the audience.

The OTT versus theatre debate refuses to die down. While web without a doubt has created a thriving space for creative minds to explore and audiences to consume good content, the charm of larger-than-life theatre experience is irreplaceable. However, with vaccination starting and people looking forward to getting back to cinemas, one wonders whether the binge watching behaviour would get affected. Actor Gulshan Devaiah feels both theatres and web would co-exist.

Actor Gulshan Devaiah is presently busy with Reema Kagti’s upcoming web project.

“The pandemic situation had given opportunity to the streaming network to flourish. And to many it has become a habit. At the same time, cinemas too would exist. In the 90s, when the TV industry saw a boom, there was scepticism that it would take over films. Even when VHS came many thought ‘oh people will stop going to cinemas and sit at home and watch straight to video’. But none of these happened. So I don’t think one medium would be taken over by the other,” he says.

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A self-confessed cinema lover, Devaiah adds, “Nothing can replace the joy of experiencing a collective emotion or that larger-than-life experience.”

Talking about web, the actor feels what would keep up the interests are long format shows that is series/episodics.

“In longer formats focus can be on many characters, parallel story line. Cinema that way is quite restricted. In those 2.5-3 hours you can focus on maximum three protagonists. Web doesn’t have such limitations. It’s creating stars out of talent,” he says referring to how actors Jaideep Alhawat, Pratik Gandhi, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Divyenndu etc benefitted for web opening up.

“They’ve been around for long but it’s only recently they became massive successed. And such stars and success stories are important to help the medium flourish. Something like we say about how one Friday can change someone’s fortune,” says Devaiah, whose web releases in 2020 were Ghost Stories, Unpaused and Afsos. The actor is now busy with Reema Kagti’s next web series.

“2020 wasn’t a bad year for me career wise. This year too I’ve a few things lined up. I’m in no hurry though… If at all I can leave a legacy behind then I want to be able to say that I’ve done these many films and all of them are diverse… We’re anyway in the game of perception. Your values ability and craft, how good or bad you are, everything is a perception. I’ve realised that being good isn’t enough and there’s much more than just the hustle,” he concludes.

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Author tweets @Shreya_MJ