How OTT has changed the story narrative gameplan of content creators

After helping more than 5 million Indians navigate the complex landscape of OTT content with AI-based personalized recommendations every month, OTTplay is now making its foray into OTT content streaming, with the launch of OTTplay Premium-bundled subscription packs.

The five carefully curated subscription packs not only bring together popular OTT platforms like SonyLIV, ZEE5, LionsGate play, Sun NXT, ShemarooMe, Curiosity Stream, ShortsTV, DocuBay, but they also make four international OTTs – Hallmark Movies Now, DUST, FUSE+ and Taste Made+ – available in India to the Indian audience for the first time ever via OTTplay Premium Subscription Packs.

OTTplay rcently witnessed some latest product launch and a fun interaction session with ACE industry experts such as actor Pankaj Tripathi, actress Sonakshi Sinha and Director, Producer, & Writer Imtiaz Ali.

Speaking on his OTT career, Pankaj Tripathi said, “Multiplex and OTT have their own charm and beauty, both are unique in their own way. I think both are here to stay for a long run. When people have to watch it along with their family or friends they will celebrate on the big screen. If they have to just watch it alone and want to have “Me” time they will watch it on OTT. It's all about audience choices. What I experienced as an actor is that the story-telling style has changed.”

He further added, “Initially, when OTT had just arrived in India, I am from that first league of some actors who have touched OTT from the very beginning itself. From series like ‘Sacred Games’, ‘Mirzapur’, ‘Criminal Justice’ on Disney+ Hotstar, I am mostly on every platform. Some people used to think that it was similar to TV. Actors used to be picky when acting in OTT. After seeing it approach worldwide. It was unbelievable for me that people from different parts of the world were watching it. They call me “Kaleen Bhaiya” (Pankaj Tripathi’s character in ‘Mirzapur’) I was assuming that with this name they don't handover my boarding pass.”

Talking about her OTT debut with ‘Dahad’, Sonakshi Sinha said, “I think for me it came at a perfect time and I was at a point in my life where I was finding that very repetitive roles were being offered to me. And I wanted to do something very, very different out of the box, something that nobody has probably imagined me like, and that's when it came to me and it was on an OTT platform and without seeing the platform on which it was. It wasn't theatrical. I went for it because as an actor, it was so satisfying to me to be able to play that character. I think the content right now on OTT platforms is so vast and so wide and so much happening.”

She further added, “Honestly, there are only about seven stories in the world, but there are just many, many different ways to tell them. So over here, I feel like there’s so much for everyone. And it has really opened up doors worldwide. For example, we're watching Spanish shows, we're watching Korean shows, they are watching Hindi shows, English shows so, it is just really cutting down a lot of barriers. So, for me that was really very exciting.”

Sharing his perspective as a filmmaker, Imtiaz Ali said, “As a filmmaker, it widens the choice and many filmmakers should be the happiest about digital technology about OTT coming in because you can imagine you imagine stories of different durations and that is the biggest boon. There was a time when we used to struggle with stories about how to finish it in 2 hours. Nowadays, stories which I am writing for OTT are the stories that were conceived earlier when OTT was not there.”

These are edited excerpts from a panel discussion. For the complete conversation watch below: