Gullak director Palash Vaswani is not fretting about star culture entering the OTT space

Director Palash Vaswani believes that the democratic nature of OTT platforms means that content, rather than star power, is the key to success. He sees the medium as providing a platform for directors, actors, and writers to connect with a larger audience, and stresses the importance of empowering all departments involved in filmmaking to create exceptional content. Vaswani has directed a number of successful web series, including Gullak, and is currently working on another human drama.

With several Bollywood stars looking at expanding in the digital direction, there is a growing sentiment that it might come with star culture seeping into the OTT world. However, director Palash Vaswani, known for bringing the world of Gullak alive, is not fretting about it, instead shows the democratic way of working of the medium.

Director Palash Vaswani is known for Permanent Roommates and Gullak

“OTT being a democratic medium it will be a momentary thing unless the content is extraordinary. It is one field where regardless of a big or small star if the content or the story is good then the show would work else it will disappear,” says Vaswani, adding, “So the content or the story should be extraordinary to keep the audience engaged. It’s the reality and fact of the OTT World where the audience holds the most power.”

Vaswani began his OTT journey in 2015 when he started working on the second season of web series Permanent Roommates, going on to direct Zeroes, Awkward Conversations with Parents, Cheesecake - India’s first pet show, Gullak season 2 and season 3.

He shows trust in the space for giving space for creators to flourish. “For me, OTT is a very democratic world that has provided a platform that has immensely helped many good directors, actors, and writers with a voice and connect to a larger audience. Much of my learning happened through Youtube where you interact with your audience. So social media platforms provided instant feedback from the audience because at times the audience might not like the part you find the best. They also help you to understand various ways to present your story to the world with instant feedback,” says the director, who is an engineer, and changed field to explore different mediums of storytelling.

Opening up about the challenge as a creative person in the industry, the director, who is currently working on another human drama, says, “There are a lot of challenges but the biggest one I feel is that every department in filmmaking should be empowered. Actors, writers, music directors, sound recorders, cinematographers, costume designers, and production designers should be empowered in their way. As everyone is an artist and excels in their own field… Once we will start to empower every department is when I feel we all will be on the next level which will be unbelievable.”