Fans, buzz, big budgets follow stars on OTT

Raveena Tandon in Aranyak, Madhuri Dixit Nene in The Fame Game, Ajay Devgn’s in Rudra, Abhishek Bachchan in Breathe, Bobby Deol in Aashram since the surge of the digital mediums in India, there have been a number of A list and popular stars entering the realm.

Every project riding on a star’s name creates hype, buzz, gets eyeballs and visibility for the streamers. With names like Varun Dhawan, Shahid Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Juhi Chawla among others gearing up for their OTT debuts in a web show or an original film, the question is are OTTs are cashing on hype of A-listers and popular stars?

Director of the R Madhavan-led Decoupled, Hardik Mehta calls it a “two-way game”. He adds, “Many actors are getting the chance to perform in web series, which is a medium for writers and actors. If it weren’t for web series, we would not have got super talents like Jaideep bhai (Alhawat) and Pratik Gandhi, who are now big stars. I think digital platforms do want A-listers and popular stars, in fact some stars, who were A-listers back in the day, are being considered to be the face of OTT projects. Those actors had a fan-following and people still love them, so it is exciting to see them onscreen in leading roles.”

Filmmaker Rohan Sippy, who was the showrunner for Aranyak, remarks that it was due to Tandon’s presence increased the appeal of their show. He adds, “In the last two years, we saw talented actors like Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Bajpayee, Kay Kay Menon, who demonstrated their appeal and the power of the medium. But our country is so big that we have a large audience that is still opening up to OTT. So the next stage would be to bring in actors who have connect with the wider audience and stars like Raveena, Ajay and others are now doing it. Also, earlier platforms had edgy content and with an actor like Raveena starring in a show gives audiences the confidence to watch it with their families. So established actors have helped out OTT platforms in reaching out to more consumers by saying here’s content that is made for you.”

Director of Rudra, Rajesh Mapuskar sees it as “an evolution”. He admits, “You can call it encashing (on hype) and why not, digital platforms are a business at the end of the day. As for the actors, they want to explore other mediums and tell stories in different way. Thankfully, now we have OTT which provides ample opportunity for one and all. I would say not just OTT but actors too are interested in streamers- it is a two-way street. I remember when I met Mr (Ajay) Devgn and we discussed Rudra, he felt the concept was great and admitted he couldn’t do that in films. So it was exciting for everyone involved.”

According to Mehta, Scam 1992 was a hit show but it took time to “become the iconic show”. He elaborates, “Initial buzz is important for OTT projects which stars get for sure. People didn’t rush to watch Scam on day 1, which had a relatively new face playing Harshad Mehta. But then it is a beauty of OTT that content works with big stars or new faces.”

Mapuskar states that stars bring in their fandom and popularity, getting eyeballs for their project. “People who haven’t subscribed to a streamer would like to see their favourite stars or actors to see what they are doing next. Their weightage as an actor also leads to curiosity and once a project is a hit it boosts confidence for everyone and energises the medium.”

Sharing an example of his own work, Mehta chimes in, “The popular stars bring in huge audiences as they have a fair share of fan following who will check out their new projects. For example, if anyone other than Madhavan had starred in Decoupled, it wouldn’t have had the kind of impact it did. You need a face, actor, star like him to carry off a funny subject like Decoupled which was politically incorrect at times too. One couldn’t have possibly made a film on the subject so it was apt for OTT. A good film or project needs a good actor but it helps to have a well-established actor. Having a known reliable names means the OTT platform will green light the project and makers get a good budget for their vision. For example, had Madhavan not done Decoupled, or we would have someone less than his stature, we would have been struggling with the budget and acceptance for the humour we were pushing for but with Maddy sir in the picture, it was accepted as an urban intelligent comedy.”

Other than fan following and their body of work, which enables stars to do their job well, Sippy shares that they too want to explore and work on an interesting medium, attempt roles unlike what they do on the big screen. “I see more and more actors entering the OTT space as they realise different opportunities to engage with their audiences,” he ends.