HTLS 2022: Raveena Tandon says web series should not have weekly releases

“The medium is not important as an actor. There is no barrier between cinema and OTT. While shooting, the equipment, lighting etc. is all the same. Every web series can be released on the big screen. There is no difference for an actor.”

“My vote would go for bingewatching. I feel when you watch it in one go, that shows real success. The weekly release breaks momentum. I am not in favour of giving one installment or episode weekly.”

Raveena Tandon says, “I open magazine and read Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood, and so many other -ollywoods. It has become a joke. It is so degrading. We shouldn't use this wood word for our film industries.”

“There are no criteria for actor's age or stardom. There is no baggage about what actor looks like or if he has a six-pack or not. The story matters here. That is what the audience wants to see in this medium. Well-written roles are needed for good performances and content,” says Pankaj Tripathi.

“Even though you began three decades ago, the evolution of an actor needs you are required to grow with time. I see so many actors haven't evolved; they are stuck in the 90s. But this is a different medium. You need to understand that. When Aranyak released, I had that fear wondering if I had understood that. There were jitters then.”

“We are shooting next year. That is what the scene is right now. I have completed another show too. So, these two shows are in the pipeline now.”

Pankaj Tripathi says, “I leave the numbers games to the producers and don't worry about where it will be sold and how much will it earn. But there are enough stories to be shown on platforms. And people are willing to watch. But if some films are not getting a platform, maybe it's other reasons like budget etc.”

Pankaj Tripathi says OTT and cinema do not have to compete with each other and both can survive side-by-side. “There are enough people to watch both types of content,” he says.

“Tough question. These viruses tend to move to endemicity where they adapt to human body and human body adapts to virus.”

“We end up diagnosing patients far too late, especially in middle- and low-income countries. Getting that capability to diagnose early is the most important thing we can do. Because then we can at least start the journey for these patients as we have cheap generic medicines.”

"Technologies I am most excited about RNA therapeutics…which is opening up a whole new world."

The advent of mRNA vaccines opened up new doors for us explore new technology areas to create new threapeautics, says Narasimhan.

Narasimhan said that India is at the heart of Novartis and much of the company's activities happens in Hyderabad.

“We have been a coglomerate...and we made a decision five years ago to focus on this company...discovering novel medicines, developing them and industrialising them to reach hundreds of millions of patients”

He says Novartis values talent, capability and contribution more than anything else.