We often discuss how the pandemic has disrupted everything around us, be it our physical and mental health or economic and business prospects or much more. But there’s always a flip side to negative things in life and that is, the lesson one learns out of these adverse situations. Something quite similar has happened with our beloved entertainment industry.
The pandemic induced lockdown gave us all ample amount of time to introspect and know where things were going wrong. When theatres got shut indefinitely, everyone in the industry got worried as to what the future had in store for them. But then OTTs came in as saviours for many.
When OTT specific content started to get made as that was the only choice at the moment, filmmakers and writers realised how these digital platforms provided them with the liberty to explore various dimensions of story-telling and that they need not restrict themselves to a limited time slot. They could now delve deeper into their stories and present on screen those necessary small nuances.
With OTTs, the star factor is not of much relevance, giving the writers and directors more creative space. Now, they don’t need to make changes to the script as per the whims and fancies of the stars and producers just to make them look good or create an awe-inspiring aura for the big screen to amaze the audience.
Films and shows became more content oriented rather than star oriented on OTTs and this restarting around content made one realise the beauty and importance of good stories. Moreover, content on OTT is permanent, giving the writers the liberty to experiment and go beyond their times.
This permanence on OTT platforms helps such ahead of time stories to transcend beyond boundaries and generations, thus reaching a much larger audience than what would have been possible conventionally. And whether its a small budget or a big budget project, each one gets a similar treatment on OTT, with story and performance being the only things that matter.
So yes, when we say that lockdown came as a blessing in disguise for the entertainment industry, its very much true. Because if not for the lockdown we would have been remained either deprived or go to know in parts, some very good stories and actors.