Top Bollywood filmmakers, stars weigh in on web content
Nawazuddin Siddiqui says it’s a enough that films are released at all
Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is not concerned about whether his films are seen in theatres or on a streaming platform as he believes that there are times when getting a proper release is in itself a huge achievement.
The actor’s latest ‘Ghoomketu’, which premiered on ZEE5 on May 22 after a series of delays, was completed in 2014.
Directed by Pushpendra Nath Mishra and produced by erstwhile Phantom Films and Sony Pictures Networks (SPN), the movie also features filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and actors Ila Arun, Raghubir Yadav, Swanand Kirkire and Ragini Khanna.
“When we were shooting this film, we shot it like how we shoot films for theatres. In today’s time, I think OTT [Over The Top or streaming platform] is the only way where people are able to watch films. So I don’t personally think that it really matters to actors.
“And actors shouldn’t be concerned about whether their films release on OTT or theatres anyway. The fact that our films are able to release is in itself a big thing,” Siddiqui told reporters in a virtual press conference.
Elsewhere, several critically-acclaimed directors including Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Nitesh Tiwari, Nikkhil Advani, and Tigmanshu Dhulia, will soon be creating varied content for SonyLIV, yet another streaming platform.
The collaboration also includes celebrated writer Ajay Monga, stand-up comedian-host Kapil Sharma, director-producer Rohan Sippy and director Bharat Kukreti, actor-director Sachin Pathak and director Samar Khan, for various projects.
Earlier this month, online video streaming platform Amazon Prime Video announced it would release seven Indian films direct to web.
These seven films, including Shoojit Sircar’s ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, will skip theatrical release and premiere directly on Amazon Prime Video. Spanning five Indian languages, the Direct-to-Service line-up features releases such as Anu Menon’s ‘Shakuntala Devi’ with Vidya Balan in the lead.
The other five films include legal drama ‘Ponmagal Vandhal,’ Keerthy Suresh film ‘Penguin,’ Malayalam drama ‘Sufiyum Sujatayum’, Kannada legal drama ‘Law’ and another Kannada drama ‘French Biryani.’
Anushka Sharma, who recently released her show ‘Paatal Lok’ on Amazon Prime Video, also talked about the benefits of working on web content.
“OTT [streaming] platforms allow you to kind of sample the content that is being created world over in Ireland, Turkey, America, United Kingdom. It enables you to see the content creators all over the world and the work that they do and we would obviously get very inspired by that and always desire to create that kind of content, which can inspire people and which we felt very inspired through,” she said.