Saptrishi Ghosh says that actors playing characters which are too close to reality is the primary reason for an OTT actor to not get larger-than-life stardom. He says that the charm of the big screen is missed on OTT as it is easily accessible.
“The simplest answer to this question is that the canvas of viewing is either a mobile, iPad, or tablet, or at the very least, a TV screen. So, the charm, the mesmerising effect of sitting in a dark theatre, watching a huge 70 mm screen is missing. I'm saying that till the time the OTT shows or the original films are not being shown in a theatre, I am sorry, but the situation is not going to change. Even the best actor we have on OTT platforms these days is no Shah Rukh Khan, you can never become Salman Khan either. The reason for this is majorly the canvas, as I said, the viewing canvas is small. So, something which you get first hand, on a phone, on a tablet, or maybe on your Smart TV loses its essence, that's what I feel. And maybe because the OTT content is so true to life, usually, I mean slice of life, as they say. They are so realistic. The gloss is messy. And people love to see gloss and glamour when they go and watch a film, whether it's a Karan Johar film or it's a Kareena Kapoor film or even if it's a John Abraham or Shah Rukh Khan film. The essence of the big screen is different. Tomorrow Anshuman Jha starts asking for 20 crores if the film becomes a sleeper hit or 40 crores if he's a star overnight. But would it have been possible had the film directly been released on our OTT platform? I doubt, I have my reservations,” he says.
Since there is no censorship issue on OTT, one or two bold scenes have become almost a normal thing, and that is okay, says the actor. “One or two bold scenes are fine as long as they are completely story-centric. Since there is no censorship, I mean, why not? We are okay with watching all kinds of scenes when we watch foreign content. So why can't we do it here? I'm absolutely fine with it as an actor. As long as the story, the content, and the content itself justify it, and it's been shown, then it's perfectly fine. I'm okay with it,” he says.
He adds, “You see, exposing everything, everyone to everything, including abuses, affairs, sex and drugs, is just like bringing the skeleton out of the closet. It used to happen before, will happen, and it's always going to be there. It's always going to be there. So it's just getting stuff out. I feel it's okay. The world is changing. India is changing. Our viewership is changing. More than 65% of our viewers today are youth. And they know everything. So, if you don't do that, then it becomes fake. If our jhopdi wala, a guy from Dharavi, who's only studied till class 5 or maybe 6, starts speaking like Majrooh Sultanpuri or Javed Akhtar, I mean, it won’t work, right? That's not going to happen. That can never happen. He would always talk with abuse. Initially, they used to beep, and now beeps also don't happen. So, I guess that's okay. And if you're okay hearing the word f*** in Hollywood films, then what's the problem?”
