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EXCLUSIVE: Nikkhil Advani explains how OTT release of films is an economic decision and not a creative one
With a sudden increase of films releasing directly on OTT platforms amid the Coronavirus lockdown, there has been an ongoing debate about the future of theatres. Amid this, in an exclusive conversation, Producer-Director Nikkhil Advani opened up about the same.
With India’s COVID 19 fight against COVID 19 going on, several strict measures had been taken to curb the spread of Coronavirus. Among them, theatre shut down was there and a nationwide lockdown that put an end to film shoots as well. Amid the lockdown, the popularity of OTT platforms like Netflix, Prime Video, and more has increased and, now, new films are directly heading for a digital release and the first among them were Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi. Amid this, a debate has ensued whether OTT is a game changed and speaking exclusively about it, Producer-Director Nikkhil Advani expressed his thoughts in our webinar.
Talking about the same, Batla House director expressed that the entire debate on films releasing directly on OTT is fuelled by a sense of fear. Nikkhil explained that once theatres open and the situation improves post-COVID 19, films will be back in the theatre. He mentioned that no filmmaker makes a film for digital release and mentioned that many want to release their films on the big screen only. Speaking exclusively, he said, “This whole discussion about films going directly to OTT is all coming out of a sense of fear and uncertainty. How many of us sitting in this panel have not sat in some place or the other and had this discussion watching a trailer ki ye picture to directly digital pe jana chahiye tha. And, now today we are getting worried about this whole notion of it going directly to digital or it circumventing the cinemas.”
Nikhhil also mentioned, “The minute the cinemas will open, everything will come back. There is no question about it. We make films because we also want to watch it on a 70mm screen. We want to enjoy that experience. Nobody is only making it straight for OTT. Because we are doing it right now, it is an economic decision, it is not a decision coming out of creativity. There are things which are being made with the intent of putting it into the OTT platform. We just happen to be lucky that we get the opportunity to release it in the limited way that we do get to release it. But there are subjects that are not meant for cinema.”
Naik Naik and Company in association with Pinkvilla are conducting Live sessions on Facebook- “Post COVID 19- The Rise of a New Dawn”. The three day initiative (15-17 May) aims to bring together celebrities and influencers from across the Media and Entertainment industry to share their thoughts on how to plan the future post COVID 19.
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