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‘EARLIER, GOOD NUMBERS COULD OVERRIDE BAD STORIES’
Sidharth Malhotra feels OTT platforms have freed films from the burden of number game
After chartbusters such as Vaaste, Le Jaa and Baby Girl, singer Dhvani Bhanushali has come up with yet another single, titled Mehendi. But this time, things are quite different — it is her first song without a label backing her. The singer tells us that she felt this was the correct time for her to take the independent route.
“To grow as an artiste, you need to change after a point. I feel somehow, with a label, that wasn’t happening. They have their way of working, and we didn’t gel anymore. It was a good decision for me to do it independently. It made more sense for my fans to be more engaged. That’s the way to go for every artiste, to have their own identity. The label I was with earlier had other big artistes on their platform, and I wanted to work my way,” explains the Sauda Khara Khara (Good Newwz;
2019) singer.
While working without a label is certainly not easy, the 23-year-old says it works in your favour if you have a good song. “It’s good if you want to be a label artiste; to each their own. I also gained a lot from being one earlier. There was nothing to complain about. [But] over time, your mindset changes,” remarks Bhanushali, who collaborated with singer-composer Vishal Dadlani for her latest track, which has “garba vibes” and has already crossed 35 million views on YouTube. “Garba is in my blood. It is a melody I grew up listening to. This song was a special one for me, and I enjoyed figuring out the video. I’m happy we chose to do it this way,” she concludes.
Actor Arvind Trivedi, who was best known for his portrayal of Raavan in the hit mythological TV show Ramayan, died on Tuesday night, after a heart attack. He was 82 .
Sidharth Malhotra is riding high on the success of Shershaah, which opted for a direct-to-OTT release amid an uncertain scenario for theatres. And it sure paid off, as the film drew appreciation from all quarters, changing the game for him. Acknowledging the positives of the web medium, the actor agrees that before theatres shut down amid the pandemic, things had become too much about boxoffice numbers — even audiences started judging a film by the many crore clubs.
“To give them full credit, OTT platforms have removed the burden of numbers to judge a film. Pehle kya hota tha, even good numbers could override bad stories. It was like, ‘Paisa toh banaya na eventually’. There is nothing wrong with that. [But] once you negate that, you’re looking at a film bare, what it makes you feel and not getting influenced by what it did at the box office,” elaborates the 36-year-old.
He again asserts that the box office benchmark is nothing wrong, but it did distract the audience at times. “Now, there is no distraction (with OTT releases), you have the option of watching it for half an hour, rewinding it, rewatching it... If creatively, your intention is in the right place, you can capture the audience, make them feel certain things,” he says.
Malhotra admits that he was “pleasantly surprised” by the response to his latest release. And life after the film has been “happier, calmer, relaxed” for him. “It’s an amazing feeling to get this kind of love and respect for your performance, which is unlike my past films. I’m geared up for future work,” shares Malhotra, who hopes that he can get such a response for every film of his.