Who is a Star? According to the dictionary, the principal character of a play, movie, show etc. However, in today’s world - or rather in today’s India - a Star is someone who can attract millions of people into cinema halls, has a huge fanbase, dances well and has machismo. At least in India, acting skills aren’t the biggest priority in the making of a Star.
However, what do you, when at least for a few months, this entire ecosystem collapses? In this lockdown, streaming platforms have been a savior for many people and entertainment in our homes is a very popular way that people are getting through the pandemic - both in terms of time and emotional and mental security.
2020 can be well considered a game-changer for the entertainment industry in India and around the world - web series with extremely talented ensembles are getting the viewership they deserve which is bringing many, many underrated actors to the forefront and giving them their due credit. These actors have the capability to suck you in, and this period has given them time to weave their magic. They are living proof that acting is so much more than looks and your ability to lip sync. The solid storytelling in many of these shows doesn’t make you miss the usual song-and-dance routine of bollywood. Not only actors, but most deserving people are being appreciated - an apt example being Sima Taparia from the blockbuster Netflix reality show Indian Matchmaking.
I also believe that the films which might not do well in cinemas, can strike profitable deals with these platforms, resulting in a win-win situation. Other than being ideal for actors who don’t get their due in cinema halls, OTT platforms can also be an effective medium for popular actors to be as nuanced and display their acting chops as much as possible - without the trappings of the box office numbers and footfalls. Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen’s excellent web comeback Aarya has got over 18 lakh views as of mid-July 2020, which shows how much love it has got. In fact, latest reports suggest that over three A-List actors in Bollywood have signed up for web series. The truth is that most good content is getting it’s due on the web. This seems natural, especially since “content-based cinema” is on a rise in India. Some fantastic films that didn’t perform well in cinemas this year due to the lack of a “known face” - I cannot imagine their potential on these platforms.
On the flipside, however, theatre owners, distributors and exhibitors are having a hard time with the shutting down of cinemas. They are openly expressing their dissatisfaction for so many big-budget Bollywood films taking the direct OTT route and at one point even asked for a margin of their profits. Well, nothing much can be done - however I believe there still will be big festival releases which will be released in cinemas - so I don’t think of them as destroyed at all. Yes, it will take a while, but I do believe that there are many “stars” whose target audiences aren’t on web platforms. I believe they will help bring the audience back in cinemas. I don’t believe that a system so old can collapse so suddenly - it won’t. OTT platforms and Cinemas can harmoniously coexist, each serving a different audience and different quality of content. In fact, I do believe that even cinematic and web content will become better - the former because without a vaccine no one will infringe their safety to watch a mediocre film. And on the web, well, you can pause, rewind and stop - which means a decrease of our already short attention spans - so both the mediums can’t settle for less than the best - which I believe will make content bloom.
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