Friday jitters gone: OTT release ends the box office ‘rat race’
With films releasing directly on the web, experts share how the dynamics of box-office collections and stardom have changed
It’s no longer about how much money a film makes on its release day or opening weekend. With the Covid-19 crisis keeping the movie theatres shut, filmmakers have turned to OTT platforms. And now, it’s all about the film, rather than the money it earns or the “rat race” that makers and actors find themselves to be a part of, feel experts.
Trade expert Atul Mohan says the very barometer of measuring who’s a star — the box office — is gone. “Before a film releases, the marketing revolves around a star, unless there’s a maker like Sanjay Leela Bhansali or Rajkumar Hirani. Stars draw fans to theatres. Now that pull will be abolished when films release on OTT platforms,” he says.
Actor Sonakshi Sinha, who stars in Bhuj: The Pride of India, agrees that a direct-toOTT release has lifted the pressure of the number game. She tells us, “As artistes, producers and directors, we’ve made projects that we want to showcase to the audiences. Right now, the only way we can do that is through OTT platforms. Definitely, the pressure of the rat race and box office figures has been taken off, but it’s not like we don’t want to get back to theatres.”
With a big film comes big pressure, and Akshay Kumarstarrer Laxmmi
Bomb has perhaps a lot riding on it. Director Raghava Lawrence, who is struck by the situation’s unpredictability, tells us, “I have zero knowledge about what’ll happen. What would the rating be, how would the business be… The pressure that [usually] comes with a release and the thrill of how much would the first-day collections be — they’ll be missing this time around. But you can’t wait for a theatrical release as there’s interest climbing up. Whatever change comes in the world, you’ve to adapt to it.”
However, he has a “50-50” response when asked if he’s happy with an OTT release.
“Everybody, including the producers, want to release on the big screen only. This will be the first time we will experience this,” adds Lawrence.
Trade analyst
Taran Adarsh, however, feels this is just a “phase” that will pass in some time.
As the investigation in actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death unravels more twists, prime-time debate on news channels continue to heat up. While slamming those who are “using a poor boy’s death to garner eye balls”, actor Shruti Seth urges, “Right now, let’s all just respect the family’s loss. Somebody has died; why can’t people understand the gravity of the situation? I really don’t think it’s right for people to usurp this terrible tragedy in trying to make all kinds of comments.”
Ruing how some people are using this case to settle their personal scores, Seth says, “I’d request everyone to not give time and space to people to forward their own agenda and reformist attitude. Whatever maybe the case, this is not the time. The grief of a family is being undermined and usurped.”
Rajput’s death is not just shrouded in mystery, but it has also kick-started several
She has been in showbiz for almost 13 years now, but Aarti Singh says it’s only recently that people have begun to associate her face with a name. “Till some time back, I was known as (comedian-actor) Krushna Abhishek’s sister. People would come up to me for a picture, then ask, ‘Who are you? Which show have you done?’. Then, after I talked about my anxiety issues on debates about the film industry and its functioning. Seth believes that such conversations can wait till things get better. “Too many things are getting muddled. These debates can happen later also. No big reforms are happening right now, anyway. We’re dealing with a strange time, and all we need to be is kind,” she tells us.
Seth, 42, feels everyone should just celebrate Rajput’s life and his achievements as the investigation takes its course. “It has been a deep loss for the industry and the country. Let’s not talk about anything else. Let us be dignified and send prayers to the family. I hope Sushant rests in peace and his family finds the strength to deal with this irreparable loss. I am a parent and I can totally understand what his family is going through,” she concludes.
Rishabh Suri
Juhi Chakraborty
national television, an aunty came up to me and said, ‘My son relates to you as he too has anxiety issues’. I’ll eventually get respect for my work, but the respect one gets as a person makes them believe they’ve achieved something in life,” the actor tells us.
Talking about her journey in the industry, Singh, 34, who’s also actor Govinda’s niece, shares, “Sometimes, it’d happen in a public place or event, people would tell me, ‘Madam, aap hatiye’. It felt bad. I had put on so much weight, who’d have given me a lead role at that time? But slowly, I lost weight. And then I got the show, Vaaris. Today, if you ask my standing, people will say, ‘Ladki ko kaam aata hai’. It feels good.”
And she wants to continue doing more good work, with focus being on lead roles. “I was never an ambitious person; never thought I wanted bungalows or do films. I just wanted to make a name. Slowly, I realised, more than the greed for such things, my greed was to overcome the inferiority complex inside me,” Singh says.
Rishabh Suri