Pankaj Tripathi: Had OTT existed earlier, I wouldn’t have to wait 47 years

A host of stars from Bollywood, television and streaming platforms turned up for the launch event of OTTplay Premium in Mumbai on Thursday. Among them was Pankaj Tripathi, who spoke at length about the significance that OTT has on his life and career. (Also read: 

Speaking about how OTT is finally getting the respect it deserves, he said, “With the advent of OTT, the stories have begun to change. When OTT was new to to India, people viewed it as another Television but now we are realizing that it has unimaginable reach.”

He added, “Had OTT existed earlier, I would have grown in my career very early on and wouldn’t have had to wait for 47 years. With OTT, as you have more time, viewers get invested even in the side plots and sub-plots. The side actors too get recognition as there is enough time given to them too. The struggle for actors has definitely reduced. There is only one requirement here and it is that one should know how to act.”

Comparing the platform to a cinema experience, he said, “In cinema, it is not necessary that if it is earring well, it is good content. In OTT, however, if your work is good, it will garner word-of-mouth on its own. The people working in the platform have the metrics of which scene of which episode was watched the most. I think OTT will provide a scope for a lot of experimentation.”

After helping more than 5 million Indians navigate the complex landscape of OTT content with AI-based personalised recommendations every month, OTTplay is now making its foray into OTT content streaming, with the launch of OTTplay Premium- bundled subscription packs. The 5 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 4 international OTTs – Hallmark Movies Now, DUST, FUSE+ and Tastemade+ available in India.