Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Everyone is talking about OTT platforms these days but Pavan Sadineni was the first to direct a web series titled Pilla three years back for Viu. That was the time when industry folks questioned Pavan as to why he was risking his career by shifting to OTT platform. He had an interesting answer. “At the end of the day I am a storyteller. I am not a marketing guy, distributor. I left my job in the USA to tell stories. As long as it engages people, I don’t care what platform it is. I have seen a future in this long back though. Direction is the same for both film and OTT and if you are a writer with a director in you, it pushes the boundaries. You can do a lot of things that can’t be done on a big screen,” tells the director to Klapboardpost.com while awaiting his next release which is a web series titled CommitMental.
On Time frame: When our narration exceeds 15 minutes on the big screen, we try to sustain drama, people call it a lag. I really pity these designed time frames. A story should decide if it is meant for the OTT or a theatre. If you write a story and it can’t be told in the time zone, it has a scope that can’t be limited means it should go to OTT. Writing stores for OTT is a stupid thing. I still remember watching films for three and a half hours, now people have no patience. They can’t see two and a half hours on some occasions. People have no time for test matches, they are seeing 20-20. We have to adapt to that. Whatever content you can’t tell people to watch, you can give it to OTT. I write my own stuff, I enjoy it. Roommates is India’s most loved and a successful show, a first time experience for me but I loved remaking it.
Kissing scenes are not mandatory: It is not binding on the directors part to pitch a project that is inclusive of kissing and make out scenes. Producers don’t demand but we get to see kissing scenes and ‘F’ word like it is very cool and one uses it at the drop of a hat. Few directors who are successful say they are doing OTT films because they can use the ‘F’ word etc without much fuss. It is a deliberate and desperate move. If it is necessary for the story then okay but just because there is no censorship here, OTT kadha ani pedithe wrong. If you trust your story, know your audience and a lot more people will see on OTT. Know your boundaries, if the scene demands you can but it is stupid just because you have written it for OTT. Audiences like us don’t watch vulgarity and sexual stuff but it is the most watched in India. Some platforms have sexual and adult content. Every platform has space for adult content, they have their own restrictions and rules. End of the day it is business for them. I am not sure if the platforms are asking for kissing scenes. Ott antey iltlaantidhey tiyyali ani misguide avuthunnaru. A flop pushes you into an insecurity zone and brings you close to despair and that in turn makes you make mistakes. You shouldn’t be bound by that and come out good. You tend to take a lot of wrong steps.
Astray posts a flop: After a flop, a lot of things influence directors. Very few people who withstand that come out in a positive way. No one cares for a flop guy and around that time he sees far less talented people than him become successful and he loses his confidence. The family responsibilities and the EMIs play on his mind and make him take a wrong step. He should stick to ethics and discipline and bear it. All one requires is time and a positive thought. After a flop we start judging a director which isn’t fair. A flop means…story might have gone wrong. The first film had been labelled a fluke and in all possibility the second story could be a wrong selection. For a single flop it isn’t right to write off a director.
Underestimating audience: Earlier when I would see Mani Sharma’s name on a poster I would just go to the film irrespective of the cast and crew in it. That is because I was under the impression that he delivers quality stuff. Now there is a teaser, trailer, lyrical video promo etc. Before the release, we are showing you half the film but even then the audience will take only what he wants from the given output.
OTT is business not content: OTT is being used to do business but not to build content. OTT is used to make content beyond theatre films. For example, let us take Scam. It is a beautiful show on OTT. The story has been made as Big Bull with Abhishek Bachchan but this one is beautifully made in ten hours. It is super successful. Now everyone is making OTT films just to make money. Earlier they would make films for satellite and i.e if you invest 40 lakh on a film, you get 60 lakh for it. There are brokers, middle men for OTT as well. I don’t want people to lose that seriousness. The producers are roping just about any director and they think only on monetary aspects like satellite business etc. I am so happy that big people in the industry are entering the market and are making good content but not looking at small profits. If people want to see something beyond the cinema, they watch here.
A showrunner: This is a remake and the original was made five or six years back for Youtube which is pretty much OTT content. I don’t do any film as time-pass. I love cinema and enjoy the making process. This has multiple seasons. I am here as a showrunner, like a creative producer. There was another director who tested Covid positive two days before the shoot. I am always up for light hearted entertainment, it is my forte. There are two beautiful characters who are completely opposite in nature. It is always challenging to see such stuff. Also I will resume shooting from December for a film starring Bellamkonda Ganesh. We short 50 percent already.
