DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ON OTT RADAR
A lot of web projects, of late, have had domestic abuse as the central point of their narrative. We talk to makers and actors about the reason
Still from The Relationship Manager
OTT platforms have opened up a new avenue for not just artistes and audience, but also for different topics to be tapped into. And, of late, domestic violence is one dark reality which has been brought to the fore on digital platforms.
The short film The Relationship Manager (2020) saw Annup Sonii as a woman’s relationship manager from her bank, and how he senses something isn’t right when he calls her. Sonii says content has now come closer to reality, adding, “If mainstream picks up certain subjects related to common people, it helps us reach a certain conclusion.”
Criminal Justice season two had actor Kirti Kulhari’s character deal with the issue of women’s safety — both outdoors and inside homes. Black Widows explored abusive marriages. These are just a few of the many web titles that deal with domestic abuse.
RECENT RISE IN CASES THE STIMULUS?
During the lockdown, domestic abuse cases reported an alarming growth. Can the sudden interest in exploring this subject be attributed to the real-life situation? Yogita Bhayana, founder of NGO PARI, says, “There’s more awareness. I don’t know if that was the connect, but... these projects create awareness and have major impact on people.” Sonii feels it was important to present the short film during the lockdown, and if “even one person gets the message, it’s an achievement.
OTT GIVES FREEDOM
Makers, such as Nikkhil Advani, who directed one of the stories in web anthology Unpaused, say that the medium gives them creative freedom to tell “difficult stories which, normally, we would not consider making”.
Actor Divya Dutta, who starred in The Relationship Manager, feels “the world has become smaller due to OTT platforms”, referring to how it allows such stories to reach homes and “every kind of audience”.