Digital Dhamaka : During the pandemic, cinemas were shut down and the consumption of digital content increased significantly. The use of OTT platforms was progressing at a snail’s pace before the Corona period. But during the Corona days, the demand for OTT increased so rapidly that even Bollywood could not remain untouched by it. Today OTT platforms have become very important for Bollywood. Here is a special report –
According to experts, these days OTT platforms are becoming a new home for the Bollywood industry. We are not saying this, but after Corona, the situation has become such that OTT has now become a necessity for Bollywood makers and stars.
Bollywood’s Ka OTT Connection
In betweenCorona period, when Bollywood films were yearning for cinema, OTT was the only medium that could save the filmmakers from huge losses. Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan’s film Coolie No. 1 was made to be released in cinema, but amid the pandemic, the film had to be released on OTT. Something similar happened with Janhvi Kapoor’s biography film Gunjan Saxena the kargil girl. This film was also made for theatrical release, but due to Corona, it was also released in cinema in August 2020. At the same time, many South filmmakers were waiting to release their films in theaters. But Bollywood films kept releasing one after the other.
OTT came to Bollywood’s aid like a vaccine
After the cinema opened, the biggest challenge for Bollywood films that were being released in cinema was to bring back the audience to cinema, but most of the films were not getting audiences. In such a situation, any film would be offscreen from the cinema within a week or two and finally it was released on OTT. This is where these filmmakers understood the importance of OTT. There was a time when many Bollywood makers and stars felt that OTT is only for newcomers. But during the Covid period itself, Bollywood people understood that they can no longer survive without OTT. Well, in today’s era Bollywood big names like Sanjay Leela Bhansali to Rohit Shetty have debuted on OTT, while many stars are also working for OTT.
Now Bollywood Has Second Chance
If we look at the year 2024, today Bollywood’s OTT is no less than a Sanjeevani booti. The biggest example of this is Kiran Rao’s film Lapata Ladies. This film was released in cinema, critics also liked it a lot but the film could not get that many viewers in cinema. other hand, when Lapata Ladies was released on OTT, this film started trending on social media overnight. People were praising the movie. With this, filmmakers have understood that if good content is not able to bring the audience to the cinema, then they have a chance and hope that their work will be appreciated on OTT.
Why has OTT become special for Bollywood?
1. Filmmakers hope that their work can be liked on OTT.
2. Small budget films get a chance to showcase their content on a large scale around the world.
3. After big budget films earn money in cinema, there is a race to buy them on OTT platforms as well, which earns a lot of money for the makers.
4. Film stars who were earlier limited to cinema are getting a chance to do something new after web series.
