‘People will be so fed up of OTT, they’ll happily go back to theatres’
Theatre is actor Ratna Pathak Shah’s first love. But that love has seen a massive dent, as the Covid-19 crisis has kept her away from performing for a live audience “It is particularly painful for me, a theatre person,” she admits, adding, “The idea is to perform in front of a live audience, that’s what I’ve grown up on, that’s what I want to do all my life. To have that taken away is such a big shock to me.”
And given the present scenario, the theatre industry, like many others, has also gone digital. While she agrees online platforms have brought a lot of new people into the business, she’s quick to say, “My big fear with the OTT is that I don’t like plays being online. It is nowhere close to what the real experience is like.”
The actor feels OTTs will be around for quite some time. “But when things clear up, everyone will be so fed up of
OTT that they would happy to go back to the theatres,” says Shah, 63, whose last film Thappad had a short theatrical run owing to the pandemic and eventually made its way to an online streaming platform.
Shah’s next, Jayeshbhai Jordaar, was slated to release this year, but has now been pushed. She was also gearing up for the performance of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for
Godot this month, but that, too, stands postponed indefinitely.
“This period has been hard, like for everyone else, to change one’s way of thinking, working and living. I suppose it has given everyone a comprehensive idea of what retirement will look like,” says Shah, who recently served as a jury member of the Lockdown Film Festival.
My big fear with OTT is that I don’t like plays being online. It is nowhere close to what the real experience is like. RATNA PATHAK SHAH ACTOR