The entertainment world is ever-evolving with new content emerging ever since streaming platforms became a large part of our lives. The past few years have been exciting for the makers as well as audiences with regards to content on OTT, promising an even more exciting time in 2022. Filmmaker Rohan Sippy, who has produced shows like the Indian version of The Office and the recent Aranyak for OTT, weighs in on the way forward for digital platforms to develop engaging content and widen their audience base.
The Future of OTT medium in 2022
The time is very exciting. It is incredible the kind of choices we have. The best of Indian and world entertainment is at our fingertips. It also means that you have to set the standards higher and higher. Our own series Aranyak is in the company of the likes of Squid Game, The Witcher, Money Heist and Decoupled. It is a great snapshot of the kind of choices on one platform. This is only a good thing for the creative community. It is a chance to tell our stories and reach out in incredible ways. This is only going to keep growing.
And not every platform will target the same consumer. Some are driven by advertising and are going for more massy content, while others are niche and subscription based. This gives the consumer a choice and the creator as well as to how wide an audience they want to reach. The regional content is also coming up more and more. International shows are getting adapted here and many more are being released as dubbed versions. There is a huge amount of churn happening and the best thing is that the good stories are getting prominence through word of mouth and everyone then tunes into it.
It is someone’s time that you are targeting. I have noticed that the cinemas are also becoming more and more expensive. If you take your family out to a decent multiplex in a big city, that will probably get you all the subscriptions for all the platforms for the year. This makes a big difference. Cinema has now become part of the ‘mall experience’ where you are willing to spend 6-7 hours of your day at a go and indulge in several other activities like shopping, eating and then watching the movie. There will surely be certain titles that get those blockbuster openings but it will be a challenge for dramas or such films that used to do well earlier. The audiences have now got used to getting the best content at home, whether it is Hindi films or shows. It will be interesting to see whether the audience steps out for the ‘normal films’. There is certainly an appetite for big event films. Regional films, meanwhile, have come back in better shape. With the Hindi films, the next six months will be very important to get the confidence back. For the newer stars to be born, they have to have theatrical releases. They have to start building up a new generation of fan base. That is the next big challenge for Hindi cinema.
What defines hit or flop on OTT
With the digital medium, unfortunately the transparency is not there. Like there is the box office report of a theatrical release or the TRPs for a TV show, till date there are no figures across platforms regarding how many people watched a series or a film. For better or worse, the only metric right now is whether there is a season two coming up or not. That is the way to gauge whether the platform has confidence in taking it forward. Other than that, we are following social media as well and get a sense of response to it. But like a box office figure gives you a sense of achievement or failure, the report card is quite clear there. In the TV medium as well, the GRP and TRP system gives you a clear picture of reach and acceptance. We don’t yet have access to that sort of clarity here.
On what is keeping young actresses away from OTT
You have to find a subject that excites you as an actor. Their schedules, I’m sure, are very busy. Even though you are trying to create a quality similar to films, the working conditions are much harder. For instance, you will have to do 3-4 films worth of work in a similar time span. On a film schedule, if you miss one day, you can make it up. On a show, one or two days go out of control, the whole show goes completely haywire. It takes a lot of commitment from an actor. You can’t just quickly do something and get out. You have to be part of a team. Like Raveena Tandon was with us for three months on an outdoor schedule. But that kind of commitment is required on shows. For a younger actress with existing commitments, it may not be possible.
Going by the response we are seeing to women on OTT, I think there is an incredible opportunity for younger actresses, if they can commit, to really make a mark. It is a much bigger audience than your theatrical release may aim for. It is rapidly becoming one of the biggest mediums. Right now, the younger actresses are not very much here but the older ones are doing some great work on OTT.
Trends that are likely to emerge on OTT in 2022
The initial phase of OTT was without the shadow of censorship. Then the issue of not being able to say certain things on screen was not really there and the novelty was there. Now, drug abuse, explicit language and sex among others themes were explored. But we did not realise that the wider audience is not comfortable with it. It is not that they can’t handle it but you may not want to see it in every show. 5-10 percent of your content can have that but if you see around the world, most of the content is something you can teach with your family. I am hoping that is going to be the next trend because there is so much opportunity there. So many shows I have done and people come up to me and say, “I was able to watch it with my family and my parents.”
Earlier, the OTT was more associated with edgy content. This does not mean that the storytelling needs to be compromised on. You can suddenly open up three to four times your audience base by being more conscious about their taste. Secondly, regional will continue to grow. Thirdly, I really hope comedy comes up in a big way also. If you see worldwide also, half of the trending shows are comedies. Writing is a critical aspect in that but if you get that right, the execution of comedies is comparatively easier than action and other genres. And there is a repeat audience for these shows. A newer generation of comedy centric content that may be the staple for these platforms for many years.
The formula for getting comedy content right for OTT
The formula is really great characters. Shows like The Big Bang Theory, Seinfeld, The office etc that are hit don’t have much focus on plot. The characters are memorable and the writing is sharp. You need to create characters with whom you can spend some of your time, which can be your comfort zone. The strength of great comedies is getting good actors and giving them great material. That will set the base for comedies people would want to tune into.
Mainstream stars are increasingly looking towards OTT
With Aranyak’s release, I realised how much of a difference Raveena made. With her career in the film industry, so many people watched it, which otherwise may not have. They might have been conscious that this may be vulgar. Ranveena gave us the stamp and reassured the Hindi audience about our show. Actors like Manoj Bajpayee and Pankaj Tripathi have created stardom in this medium. It is nice to see that the other stars are also making an impact and there is a balance. You can have fantastic actors and stars who are also good actors. Both help widen the net and bring more people in.
Changes that we can expect on OTT
I hope channels continue to experiment. We don’t have a formula and no one can be a hundred percent right about something. But if you allow the makers to create something and have the conviction and belief in them, you never know where the new genre might come from. It may be fantasy or animation or something else. There are so many things to be explored. In the West, they make content targeting young adults. This has not come through here. In the West, there is a dedicated slate of programming like that. As storytellers we have to take the responsibility to really get in there and make the most of it. I am hopeful all these things will open up in a year or two.
(As told to News18.com)
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