In streaming services era, indie film-makers star in the new normal

If he is disappointed that his new film, Pareeksha – The Final Test, will not open in theatres, he is not about to show it. After all, for a filmmaker of his calibre, “films are made for cinema”. However, like most film-makers today in the midst of a pandemic, celebrated director Prakash Jha is being “practical” – opting for a direct-to-digital release to recover costs instead of waiting for an uncertain period to release his film.

“We hardly have any option right now. I would have loved Pareeksha to release in cinema theatres since people watch OTT content largely on their phones. This does not do justice to the film. If I have to wait to release the film, I will have to wait for an uncertain period. I am happy now that people will get to see my film and I get to recover the cost of the film at least,” explains Jha, whose latest offering, Pareeksha, sharply questions the educational system in India which does not make it easy for a rickshaw driver (played by veteran actor Adil Hussain) to admit his son into a private school.

Shoojit Sircar, the director of the Amitabh Bachchan and Aysuhman Khurrana starrer, Gulabo Sitabo, too chose “not to sit with the film since it was read” and instead preferred to pay his team with the earnings that came his way from the deal with Amazon Prime Video.

But it is not just the compulsion of recovering money that is driving the trend, it’s the savings too as releasing a film in a theatre in India has become a tough proposition, say film-makers and producers. “We spend millions of rupees on marketing and buying time on the big screen. Then we have to find a small window to screen the film, when it does not clash with a big star cast film – all of this can be expensive and exhausting,” says Jha. Often, small-budget or independent films get short shrift and are pushed to an afternoon screening slot in theatres.

The 35-plus OTT platforms in India, especially the top five – Amazon Prime Video, Zee5, Disney+Hotstar, Netflix and SonyLiv – are not just coming to the rescue of producers but are also fast emerging as an attractive, ‘one-plus’ channel for many niche, independent filmmakers, who have long struggled to get “adequate screen time” in multiplexes. For instance, the Nivin Pauly Malayalam movie, Moothon, a dark visceral crime tale, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. It had a “decent” theatrical run but has been gaining traction after going online on Zee5 this month. Similarly, Manoj Bajpai’s Bhonsle, which premiered at Busan International Film Festival in 2018, is being lapped up by movie buffs on SonyLiv. 

OTTs are rescuing many films languishing in the cans for many years as well. Zee5 picked up Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Ghoomketu, a comedy about a struggling scriptwriter let loose in Bollywood and Vinay Pathak’s Chintu Ka Birthday, a sweet slice-of-life film. Both did not have backers to make it to the silver screen.

Explaining the trend, Aparna Acharekar, programming head, Zee5 India, says, “Cinema theatres are a medium for mass entertainment and big-budget films. On the other hand, OTT is the perfect medium for small, independent cinema. Every kind of film is empowered and celebrated here with no scope for monopolies.”

While good cinema benefits from OTT, the OTT platforms are also flourishing during this time. A Broadcast Audience Research Council India and Nielsen report revealed that OTT players alone saw more than a 50 per cent rise in time spent watching movies on their platforms in April as compared with pre-Covid times.

At the Netflix Q1 2020 earnings interview in April, Theodore Sarandos, chief content officer, said, “We’ve seen big growth in viewing in India and have had great success on our local originals… They (India) are also big fans of our global original content. So we’re growing the business, licensed, original, international, domestic, across the board in terms of content and content taste.” Netflix is tying up with major Bollywood production houses run by actors Anushka Sharma, Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra Jones.

Meanwhile, Indian OTT platform Zee5 has seen a substantial rise in subscription numbers by over 80 per cent and a 45 per cent rise in paid viewers watching the content.

“Zee5 has seen a significant increase... in consumer subscriptions, time spent and the number of visits in a week by our viewers,” says Acharekar on the growth of the platform during Covid-19. On bailing out producers by releasing their films online, she says, “It is a great opportunity for us since films are a good customer acquisition driver. But it is a win-win situation for all. We are here for the long haul to build a rich digital library while producers want a platform to release their films since theatres are shut. Our platforms give films a wider reach, a longer life – a win-win situation.” And, the audience too gets to see good cinema they may not have had access to.”

Distribution in foreign territories is always a problem but OTTs make it easier for films to reach different geographies, highlighting another OTT advantage.

Director of award-winning film Tryst with Destiny Prashant Nair chips in, “OTT platforms allow for a wider range of content than the pure theatrical model. Films that may have just disappeared are now earning recognition after reaching these platforms. All this is great for the industry and filmmakers.”

His film Umrika, which stars Life of Pi actor Suraj Sharma and won an award at Sundance Film Festival, has become available for the first time to Indian audiences on Netflix.

OTT platforms are bringing talented Bollywood actors out of the woodworks as well. Shruti Bapna, who went unnoticed all these years, has been recognised for her work as the sassy writer in the Abhishek Bachchan series Breathe: Into the Shadows streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Paatal Lok protagonist Jaideep Ahlwat, Pankaj Tripathi of Mirzapur fame and Vijay Varma of Netflix series She, are others getting to explore and push boundaries in their work free of box-office constraints. “People are reacting to our roles on digital platforms and talking about us,” says an elated Bapna.

Unarguably, opportunities are opening up across the board in Indian cinema. OTT platforms are under a lot of pressure for quality content and talent to woo viewers in a highly competitive landscape. As Vijay Subramaniam, director and head of content at Amazon Prime Video India, says: “Customers want to see faces, places and stories that resonate and impact them; that’s why... we are seeking to work with the best talent in the country – be it in front or behind the camera.” And, this is a demand that is not going to go away anytime soon.

“OTT was on its way to becoming an acceptable medium among viewers but Covid just accelerated that journey. What may have taken three to four years has happened in three months,” says Jehil Thakkar, partner, Deloitte India, and an expert on media and entertainment.

Acharekar believes that OTT platforms will continue to dominate the Indian film industry post-Covid too. “Only big-budget movies will go back to release in theatres to recover their investments and reach India’s heartland,” she says.

Thakkar agrees. “Since customers are getting used to watching movies on OTT platforms, in the future they will not rush to watch every film that releases in the theatre. They will become choosy and just visit a theatre to watch an Avengers or Christopher Nolan’s Tenet.”

However, he admits “cinema theatres with their Dolby surround sound can never disappear and be replaced completely”. It will be left to a Rohit Shetty or a Salman Khan to open their big-budget movies in cinemas, while the others may just head to OTT changing the viewing patterns of a movie-crazy nation, forever.