Last year, when pandemic had slowed down everything, the digital medium took the cake, quite literally. And this year was supposed to be a fine balance between theatrical and web releases, which seems to have gone for a toss again amid the second wave of Covid-19. For Pooja Bhatt, this is the not the time to complain but embrace the best of what is available to everyone.
“It’s an exciting time to have so many online platforms to put your work out there. One really can tell so many new stories and most importantly, in different languages. I’m glad that the OTT platforms are having a really genuine impact on people. We need to be embracing and accepting of the situation and make the most of it,” she says.
The actor-director recently forayed into the web space with a leading role in series, Bombay Begums.
“In an OTT show, there are so many points of discussion and that is the case with all of them. There are human stories and real emotions that are dealt with while making content for the web. That is why the medium is being liked by people, as they watch the content and resonate with it,” she says, explaining, “You also get more eyeballs than when films release in theatres. The audiences also have lapped it up.”
Talking about how she has never been so worried about the medium, the 49-year-old, whose projects Sadak 2 (2020) and production, Cabaret (2019) released digitally, says that the start of her career is a proof of the fact that medium doesn’t affect a project credibility.
“I began my acting career with Daddy (1989) which released on TV and the whole film industry told my father (Mahesh Bhatt, director) that, ‘Tum kya pagal ho gaye ho tum apni beti ko TV par launch kar rahe ho aur threatrical release nahi kar rahe ho’. But he wanted everyone to watch the film and hence took the call,” concludes Bhatt.
