Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
OTT prioritises Hindi, English films: Gippy
On June 9, actor Renuka Shahane had, in a Facebook post, sought financial help for her friend, actor Nupur Alankar. A few days later, they found an “angel” in actor Akshay Kumar.
“An angel from our film industry has helped Nupur…at a time when there is this raging debate about people not being there for each other, this angel has proved that there are gems like him who will stand by someone in need…@akshaykumar ji A man with a heart of pure, unadulterated gold,” Shahane tweeted.
Alankar was in need of ₹6,00,000 for her mum’s treatment, and her social media appeal caught Shahane’s attention. “I feel Akshay sir is bhagwan ka roop,” Alankar continues, “He doesn’t know me, yet he came to my aid. I don’t have words to express how grateful I am. He didn’t ask for any papers or test reports; he transferred more than what I needed to my mother’s account. I can never thank him enough.”
Actor-filmmaker Gippy Grewal is busy with his new singles amid the lockdown. But if there’s one thing he is unhappy about, it is that his slate of films for the year has gone for a toss, including those that were ready to release.
“As a producer, it’s impacted a lot of my work. We had 10 films in the pipeline, two were ready. In fact, one was going to release on March 20, but cinemas in Punjab were shut on March 16 or 17, and hence, the film’s release was stopped. Samajh nahi aaya kya karein. Promotion-publicity ke upar paisa bhi chala gaya,” he rues.
The trailer launch of one of his films was also stalled. Grewal, 37, adds, “We were given time till March 19 to wrap up, but our crew was big so we didn’t take any risk. We stopped work on March 15-16 itself. Our entire catalogue had been announced, money had been paid to artistes, crores of rupees invested. Even if we consider that things will be normal in a couple of months, theatres are one place where there is a lot of rush. By when will people accept this and go to theatres?”
Given the situation, Grewal hopes more OTT platforms come up. “Our industry is regional; they (OTT platforms) give priority to Hindi and English films. When regional ones start coming, there will be confusion,” he says.