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Konkona Sen Sharma: There's a lot of self censorship now, even on OTT, it wasn't there a decade ago
Actor Konkona Sen Sharma talks in a freewheeling chat about her OTT career, Killer Soup and a potential comedy series directed by her.
Konkona Sen Sharma knows instinctively what will connect with viewers, be it in films or OTT. From a doctor in Mumbai Diaries grappling with ghosts from her past, to a riveting tale of sexual identity in Ajeeb Dastaans. To now, a sinister entrepreneur, Swathi in her latest OTT outing Killer Soup, opposite Manoj Bajpayee.
Her show has turned out to be a delicious affair, if one goes by the word of mouth by a majority of viewers. She sounds relaxed when we speak to her about it.
“We obviously worked very hard. Shows also take a lot of time to make. By the time audiences finally watch it, a long time has passed. As soon as you finish shooting, you are so vulnerable and sensitive as an actor, but by the time it releases you regain some composure. One is a little more detached, which is a good thing. It’s a wonderful feeling to see this reaction,” she says.
Sharma’s OTT journey has been one full of acclaim. It started with the medical drama Mumbai Diaries, which was greenlit for a second season in 2023. She also directed a segment in Lust Stories with Tillotama Shome and Amruta Subhash, which was widely considered as the best among the lot.
“I had been watching international series like Fargo and Breaking Bad, until OTT became big in India. I was familiar with the concept, and was dying to do (a limited series) because I had only done films and short films. So when Mumbai Diaries was offered to me, I was excited as I had never done a web series, and I was happy to jump on the bandwagon,” she says.
BETTER FOR FEMALE ACTORS?
Given her body of work in films before accepting work on the web, does the 44-year-old find that female actors are offered protagonist roles more often on OTT than films, even today? Even Killer Soup had the story revolving around her dream to open a restaurant.
She reasons, “Maybe. I don’t watch all OTT films and shows. But of late the films which have done well at the box office don’t have such extensive roles for women. I may be mistaken, but on the big screen there are not great roles for women right now. They will come.”
‘EVERYONE VERY CAREFUL, HENCE SELF CENSOR’
While the web space definitely offers a wider scope for female actors, Sharma has not taken up something which depicts nudity or use strong language for grabbing eyeballs. But she feels that there is a “lot of self censorship”.
“Everybody is very careful about what they are saying, you never know when an FIR will come. A lot of self censorship is happening, which was not there a decade ago,” says the actor.
But she adds in the same breath that the treatment of female characters is still something not questioned enough. “This censorship is largely about respecting religious sentiments. I don’t think it is there for misogyny, how much one can show. Women are hit, violence is inflicted (in web projects), but sadly not much censorship is there. There is a lot of censorship when it comes to religion. We have to think ourselves how good or bad that is,” she explains.
DIRECTORIAL PLANS
What’s interesting is that Sharma has dabbled in both direction and acting on this medium. And she reveals that she is planning to develop more as a maker, “I am definitely open to the idea. I am trying to develop a series. It is not easy to pull off, it takes so much time for so many things to come together. It will be a comedy, i don’t know if platforms will like it, whether we will get the budgets we need. That remains to be answered. I am also developing a feature film. I am not in a hurry. If I am able to write something which is good, and raise funds for it, then I will definitely make it. There is no compulsion. I don’t want to make it just for the sake of making it.”
