‘For long, things haven’t been fair in Bollywood’
Our industry suffered a lot but it is like when you hit rock bottom, from there you only go up.
SHREYAS TALPADE,
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the entertainment industry, which is now slowly crawling back to normalcy, but actor Shreyas Talpade feels there has been a silver lining too amid this tough time. “Post-lockdown, a lot of things have changed,” shares the actor, adding, “The OTT boom which happened last year has given a lot of people confidence to produce some exciting content. Our industry suffered a lot but it is like when you hit rock bottom, from there you only go up. I think we all will go up from now on.”
Talpade also fees there has been a change in terms of mindset within the film industry. “Somewhere I feel happy this correction took place because it was getting a little chaotic out there in Bollywood. It was not fair, it was pretty one-sided… a lot of things. So this correction was necessary. From here on we pretty much have an equal playing field. Things are looking bright, amazing and exciting,” he says.
And the 46-year-old’s 2021 sure is looking exciting as he has multiple projects. Talpade, who made his directorial debut in 2017 with Poster Boys, says, “I have one Hindi film and one Marathi film with Mahesh Manjrekar coming out. Then there is a series and a couple of very good Hindi film offers which I am considering. I will be producing my own Marathi film this year. I’ve also been offered a few directorial projects, so yes it is quite busy. While you want to do everything, there is only so much you can do.”
Other than his film projects, he is also ready with his own OTT platform, which will focus on theatre and performing arts. “It is a very unique platform. We will launch it soon. Right now we have 100 hours of content exclusively shot for us. We are very happy that during the pandemic, we created jobs for 730 people. That’s a satisfaction which can’t be compared to anything,” he adds.