Shriya Pilgaonkar: Several times people introduce me with the label of OTT actor

While she is proud of her work on OTT, Shriya Pilgaonkar insists that she does get classified as an OTT actor because of it. She says, “The film industry is quick to box you. I don’t think people take the effort to think creatively about what they can do with you as a performer which is why somewhere as actors, we take the responsibility to somewhere spoon feed people with what we are capable of. Several times, I realise that in interviews, people introduce me as an OTT actor, but I feel like these labels are not very important at the end of the day today.”

The actor adds, “I think as a performer today, credibility and equity both are important in showbiz. If people speak of me as a credible actor, that’s important. But I think there has to be a balance.” However, Shriya admits that even the treatment of projects differ as per the medium: “I do notice a difference in doing a hit OTT series versus doing a hit film. The perception still makes a big difference. It’s still very different because of the way PR or the mounting of films is done.”

Shriya admits that most of her projects releasing on OTT has been a coincidence. “Most of the times you don’t necessarily know whether your film is going to be a theatrical or is it going to come on OTT. In the past five years, the industry has gone through its own journey. Some of the biggest films have not worked or have not taken off. So, my priority with respect to selecting work, has been based on a script and incidentally, the scripts that I have liked, have been on streaming platforms,” she says, adding, “However, even on OTT, because I have done more format of series, for me it’s important to balance it out with films, even if it’s not theatrical.”