We all have witnessed the massive expansion of the Indian OTT market in the last 4-5 years. SonyLIV and DittoTV (ZEE) both emerged around 2013. But the face of the country’s streaming market drastically changed after the arrival of Netflix India in 2018. Indian viewers finally received a chance to watch something different with Sacred Games after enduring a long, torturous, and brainless era of reality shows and soap operas. The veteran acting duo of Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui stole the limelight. Special thanks to the prominent film helming minds of Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Neeraj Ghaywan for cultivating a top-quality thriller drama outing based on Vikram Chandra’s novel. Many critics hailed its first season as nearly perfect.
Indian OTTs could not have asked for a better start for expanding their roots properly in the country than Sacred Games. They had the opportunity to bestow top-quality shows or movies to people. But they just went haywire after that. It is not like Indian streaming platforms do not treasure engaging instalments. Projects like Bombay Begums, Out of Love, Inside Edge, Special OPS, Criminal Justice, City of Dreams, The Whistleblower, and many more had promising premises. However, they also suffered from various problems. Viewers can blame the makers of these shows for many issues. But the biggest drawback that plagued these outings is the makers’ overreliance on the actors.
There is no doubt that actors breathe life into the characters of tv series or films and ultimately to the entire product. But we cannot expect them to save those products from drowning every time. Just think about this matter. How about we take Neeraj Pandey’s Special OPS as an example here? The series’ main attraction is Kay Kay Menon. Plus, we have Abbas (Vinay Pathak) to save the show in the leading man’s absence. But what about the rest of the show’s elements? The series becomes lifeless as soon as Menon or Pathak leaves our screens.
Karan Anshuman’s Mirzapur is the most popular show in the history of Amazon India originals. Do you remember those times when almost every guy in the country used to eulogise the show for its ‘amazingness’? Now, imagine it without the performances of Pankaj Tripathi and Divyenndu. What happened? It is impossible, isn’t it? The series feels like a deeply hollow soul without its leading men.
Also, several female-oriented projects like Aarya, Aranyak, November Story, and many more have suffered from the same problem during their respective streaming runs. Without their female protagonists, they struggled to ignite a spark of interest in viewers towards the remaining elements. Let’s throw Prime Video’s Jalsa into this mess as well. The duo of Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah shines in the film. But its poor climax ends up spoiling our moods. Shah also did an exceptional job in Human, a Hotstar Special helmed by her Mozez Singh and her husband, Vipul Amrutlal Shah. Critics praised her and Kirti Kulhari’s work but lambasted the show’s runtime and the sloppy execution of its plot.
Not every product that gets dispatched by a streaming platform is exquisite. It is just impossible to happen. We get that. But an actor alone is not good enough to fortify a show or a film from its complications. The makers have to focus on other aspects of filming besides the sensational performances of their actors. Components like genuine plots, intriguing themes, smooth editing, memorable dialogues, mesmerising cinematography, effective music, and many more are necessary to generate a flawless cinematic project apart from outstanding performances. But the majority of Indian makers end up neglecting these much-needed features.
With the number of talented people we have in Indian cinema right now, this problem should not have arisen in the first place. First, Indian OTTs have to concentrate equally on all aspects of filming. They can even take inspiration from Hollywood. Although, that is another thing that Bollywood has spawned a whole new meaning of ‘taking inspiration from classy Hollywood projects’ by just copying them over the years.
The problem of ‘overreliance on actors’ has not yet gained a lot of attention from people. But it will become a big headache for Indian OTTs if not resolved soon.
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