OTT platforms saw a boom in India during the COVID-19 pandemic when most of the films went direct-to-digital when theatrical release seemed a far off possibility. As the situation resumed to normal, we once again saw movies opting more for theatres first and then to OTT.
During this entire transition, we saw something change fundamentally. A segregation happened where it was acknowledged that not all films are meant for the big screen and it was considered better both financially and strategically to release certain middle or low budget or non-commercial entertainers to debut on OTT.
As it is with everything else, there’s two sides to this coin as well. We got to see some great stuff like ‘Yeh Ballet’, ‘Bulbbul’, ‘Darlings’, ‘CTRL’ ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’, ‘Lost’, ‘C U Soon’, ‘Soorarai Pottru’, ‘Shershaah’, ‘Jai Bhim’, ‘Mahaan’, and ‘The Mehta Boys’ among others.
But these have been rather far and few. The number of duds have been farther more and this has infact increased with time. For example ’Sardar Ka Grandson’, ‘Plan A, Plan B’, ‘Mission Majnu’, ‘The Archies’, ‘Maharaj’, ‘Sikandar Ka Muqaddar’, ‘Gehraiyaan’, ‘Maja Ma’, ‘Tiku Weds Sheru’, ‘14 Phere’, ‘India Lockdown’, and many many more.
That brings up a very important question, are Indian OTTs really a treasure trove for some phenomenal cinema that does not get the love it deserves in theatres or just a dumpster to throw just anything and everything?
It probably is a mix of both but heavily tilted towards the latter. The balance needs to be restored soon before the credibility starts declining for Indian OTTs. For this these platforms have to take this more seriously and not just fill their calendars for the sake of it.
It’s understandable when a few experimental projects fail, because that’s the risk both makers and platforms know they are taking. For most of the other ventures every party involved is aware of its subpar standards and they still move ahead and that’s where amendment is needed.
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