OTT platforms have been much appreciated for their even-handed meting out of opportunities, both by the audience and members of the entertainment industry. But recently, there have been talks of OTTs trying to rope in big stars. So will this mark the end of the very thing that made these streaming services so popular?
When Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Sushmita Sen, Jimmy Shergill, Arshad Warsi and the likes featured in web series, it wasn’t considered much of a threat, considering the fact that these stars have not been giving major hits for a long time in the mainstream industry.
But with Akshay Kumar’s ‘The End’ on Prime Video and rumours doing round about Ajay Devgn (for hindi remake of Idris Elba’s ‘Luther’), Hrithik Roshan (for hindi version of Tom Hiddleston’s ‘The Night Manager’), Ranbir Kapoor (for a web series) and such A listers being approached by OTT platforms, it seems to pose risk for the newcomers and those making name in the OTT world.
If this trend catches up, it could possibly lead to a potential star-hounding, quite contrary to the unprejudiced, content oriented format of these over-the-top video streaming services. Not just that, it could hamper the quality of content expected from OTTs, as the focus would shift.
One other thing to take note of is the vital contribution of the supporting cast in any web show or movie that could loose relevance if and when content becomes star-oriented. The potential loss of opportunities in such cases could become an undeniable reality.
While the above mentioned threats are not unsubstantiated, it’s also true that along with people having free will to choose what and when to watch and no dearth of content on OTTs nor any lack of talent in the country, both can very well establish a perfectly healthy symbiotic relationship.
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