Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari: OTT Is Good For Personal Viewing Whereas Cinema Halls Motivate Directors When We Get Claps

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, who has delivered films like ‘Nil Battey Sannata’, ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’, ‘Panga’ and many others, recently marked her presence at an event and shared her thoughts on OTT and traditional cinema. The filmmaker shed some light on if OTT content is taking over traditional cinema, and how to attract the OTT audience to cinema halls. Considering that not many movies are doing well in theatres, despite getting lauded when released on OTT, this is indeed a great cause of concern for filmmakers in Bollywood.

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, who has time and again inspired youth to take up challenges and pave their way through them, spoke up about the important issue at hand.

While talking about her experience with OTT and traditional cinema, she said, “For me, OTT is more for the Web Series which we see, it is about 8 hours of viewing, and it is good for personal viewing. Whereas cinema motivates directors like me, especially when we get claps.”

Adding more to it, she said, “For example, when my film ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ was released, at that time, when I use to go to the theatre and when we used to get claps during the interval time, it is a great vibe for an actor, and director, when they see everybody laughing, whistling. Post that lockdown happened and I got so many messages, saying that they are watching ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’, because that makes them happy.”

She continued, “When we go to the theatres, we enjoy our time, it's a family viewing time. Here we are not talking about cinema lovers. Cinema lovers are very different, they go, and watch shows in the morning as well. Here we are talking about the audience who go to theatre post work, and they plan to go to theatres. Whereas when the cinema comes to you at home, you watch it anytime.”

Ashwiny Iyer added, “There is a single viewing and there is a collective viewing. In single viewing, there is a scare. Whenever I am editing, I always want that people don’t get bored and don’t fast forward it or close it. That is a huge fear for us as a storyteller, which is something we won’t see in cinema halls.”

Meanwhile, on the work front, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari is gearing up for her digital debut with ‘Faadu’ and films like ‘Tarla’ and ‘Bawaal’ in her kitty. Her film ‘Faadu’ will be released on December 9.