South film industry is 'little behind’ on OTT space, says Annapurna Studios' Supriya Yarlagadda

At the WAVES 2025 summit, Annapurna Studios' Supriya Yarlagadda opened up about the need for south film industries to catch up on the OTT revolution.

Producer-entrepreneur Supriya Yarlagadda of Annapurna Studios opened up about the rise of OTT in the last few years and why south film industries need more writers now to catch up on that space. She was part of a panel discussion at the WAVES 2025 summit where she advocated the need to understand the ‘game’ better in the industry. (Also read: Shah Rukh Khan talks about Deepika Padukone as a mother to Dua: 'Excuse me if I’m stepping beyond boundaries')

Guneet Monga Kapoor, Producer, Michael Lehmann, Film & Television Director, Ruchikaa Kapoor Sheikh, Director Netflix, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Producer, Supriya Yarlagadda Executive Director Annapurna Studios and Tanya Bami, Series Head, Netflix India During the session named "Breaking New Ground: The Evolution of Storytelling in a digital Era", at Waves 2025. (ANI Photo) (Vijay Gohil)

What Supriya Yarlagadda said

Yarlagadda then added how the streaming revolution has given Indian storytellers the scope to write more original ideas, which don't depend on stars or budgets but on great characters. She said, “I must say, maybe we aspire to still be on the big screen, which is why we have been a little behind in exploring series format. I think there's a Tamil story, Kannada story, Telugu story, Malayalam story and recently there have been some successes (on OTT). But I think that we are behind. We need to catch up. And the only way to do that is to have more writers.”

'It's our time now for digital'

She went on to add, “It's not about trying to mount them on stars, mount them with big budgets— which we used to, we love that—but understanding that this game is very different. And to all the writers out there, with all these beautiful stories being told, I think it's our time now for digital.”

Surpriya spoke as part of the panel titled Breaking New Ground: Evolution of Storytelling in the Digital Era. The panel featured a lineup including Ruchika Kapoor Sheikh (Director, Original Films, Netflix India), producer Siddharth Roy Kapur, Tanya Bami (Series Head, Netflix India), Academy Award-winning producer Guneet Monga, and acclaimed American director, screenwriter, and producer Michael Lehmann.