 Behind the scenes of streaming and as you can see we have already with us Mr. Siddheer Mishra where he doesn't need any introduction but let me just revive all that we know about him and all that we appreciate and applaud him for. He's a film director and screenwriter known for directing films including Hazaro Kauaishi, Dharavi, Chamele and in his 30-year career span he has won three national awards from the President of India. He has recently directed the thriller web series that we all love, Pastages. A very warm welcome to you sir. And in this panel discussion we have with us Karan Anshuman who is a director and screenwriter of Mirzapur and Bangustan is also the creator and director of any nominated drama film Inside Edge. A very warm welcome to you too. We also have with us Rassika Gugel known for her roles in several Bollywood movies. We have recently seen her in Mirzapur out of love. I know everyone has been talking about made in heaven you've seen her there as well. Delhi crime and humorously yours. A very warm welcome to you too. Ladies and gentlemen we also have with us Shriya Pilgaokar who is an Indian film actor as we all know for her well-known part in successful web series like Mirzapur, Garindar Chattas, British TV drama, Beecham House and the film Fan. She will be next seen at from, this is something that has been shot from home as I'm told. It's a lockdown thriller series, the gone game action series Crap Down and also a tri-lingual film Hathi Mere Saathi with Rana Dugabati and Anubhav Sinha's film Abhipa Party Shree Hoi Hai. So excited for these upcoming projects for Shriya. Also we have with us Anupriya Goenka who's an actress, a dynamic performer who has made her own space in the world of cinema with her distinct film choices. She has starred in one of our favorite web series. We all know her from Sacred Games, right? And also Tiger Zinda Hai, War, Padmavad, the final call Abhay, Criminal Justice and Assur. And steering this very interesting conversation, we have with us our session chair who is Frizar Palia, head boot select, youth and entertainment, English Entertainment Wacom 18 channel, a seasoned media and entertainment advertising leader with an experience of over two decades. I don't see Frizar here yet but Frizar, alright, I see Frizar now brilliant. Hello, so Frizar, I'm going to leave the screen to you because we all are super excited. We might just jump from our seats. So why don't you stare the conversation forward? Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Khyati. And thanks everyone for joining in. It's a tough one to be moderating and normally never on this side. So bear with me. Such a super, super panel. And you know, when we saw the topic of the panel which said behind the scenes of the OTT world, I think you pretty much got all the brighter shining lights of the OTT world on this panel. So thanks for having us. And in the essence of time and I have five lovely, lovely people who I'm going to have to dig a little deeper into. I've already requested them saying don't give us any answers which are already available on Google. Because all of you are very well known and people know all about you. So the onus is on them to give us something that none of us know. So there, no pressure. Let's get to know them a little better and how they got into this big bad world called OTT as we know it, which is over the top. I'm going to start with somebody who I think has taken a pretty drastic different step while getting into OTT and that's Karan. Karan, you used to be a film critic with with Mumbai Mirror, right? So how's it now sort of being on the other side where at one point you used to critic people and now you are being critiqued in some sense all for the better. How does that change been for you? Thanks for having me guys. So, you know, as far as when I was a film critic, I mean, I was always sort of a filmmaker who began when I was always writing and it was always sort of my dream to make films. And it just so happened like, you know, becoming a reviewer for Mumbai Mirror just happened by chance. It seemed like a fun week to do, which is, you know, it was a big for me to sort of get paid while watching movies. So, you know, I can't, for anyone who's a film lover, I think that's just the way it comes through. I didn't, of course, count on the fact that 95% of those films would be absolutely terrible and I can't just get up and walk out of the theater and I have to save the food. So I didn't really think that through. But the thing is, I think a very different sort of job will be making a film, writing about film or a review. This is something that is depressing on how you've read about it at the end. It is definitely not reflective of the kind of work or the craft that goes into making any film. And it's not quite the fair comparison. So I, and that's something like I think a lot of people sort of struggle with understanding that it's not really two sides of offense. It's, you know, some guys sitting in a theater watching something and assimilating opinions and thoughts on it and just putting it out of it. But it happens to be, you know, that you can reach out to large audiences with that and your opinion does affect things. But it's not, I think, fair for anyone, any filmmaker to expect that, you know, anyone who's writing on their film can, you know, possibly relate to what the journey is or, you know, how the film has shaped up or any of that stuff. It has to be a very objective view and, you know, filmmakers should really kind of understand that. So I guess now as a filmmaker when I read reviews on my stuff, I don't actually read a lot of reviews, but I read the reviews of people who have always respected sort of, you know, to my reviewing days, whether it was like, you know, and these people are something, you know, who are sort of respected opinions. So I always sort of look out for what they have to say about my work. Do I know that like really like it's what I expect of myself if I were to review my own work and that's how I've probably seen it. So that's the state. But how do you see the world now that everyone doesn't need to be in a privileged position to be able to make that review get across to many people. I spend many nights actually getting a lot of learning from some some pretty fun YouTube reviewers. You know, and they have some some pretty awesome nuggets in there and, and someone like you who loves stories would definitely be picking that up. So who, who do you, you know, do you like following the regular critics or is this new, new breed of YouTube reviewers sort of getting under your skin at some point of time or the other. I think I'm obsessed with any kind of reviewer as a critic or anything like I don't really follow. I read one or two reviewers and that's pretty much it. Like that's that's my, if I really need an opinion because as a filmmaker you want to just go and experience things or even as a film you are like the idea is I don't watch trailers. I don't read reviews. If I like the sense of what a film might have to promise and I'm happy to go watch it and not have anything about it beforehand. I do enjoy reviews that look at it sort of critically analyze films after I've seen them so I can sort of understand what might have gone and I think that happens more with like Hollywood films or more global films rather than what happens. Sure, sure. I'm not even hearing your current very well. Is that a problem with everyone? Yeah current I think I think you need to maybe adjust your internet just a little bit it's gotten a little better than it was earlier though. But we move to, to Sudhir now who obviously needs no introduction and Sudhir I think you're on mute so before you, yeah. So you did one of the, one of the first Indian originals and I love the way we call it originals. There used to be a time where we used to say web series banana and that used to mean. For 50,000,000 will be the whole series to now, you know, getting to a scenario where we're calling it Indian originals and, you know, some others call it something else and, and so on and so forth. How was that experience really been from you for you, you know, being one of the most celebrated directors in, in the Indian film industry to then moving and getting onto a format like hostages. What was really the, the biggest learning for you. You know, I mean, you know, some, there are some things that exist. I mean, in the head before they are invented. So I mean, long form storytelling for me was a bit like that. You know, I mean, in India, we came to it Sunday. So people said, Oh, what the hell is this when Sacred Games came or something, you know, wow. But, you know, in the West, it came more gradually so the television became where the writers went and so HBO came. Right. And so OTT was just a change of the delivery system, but Sopranos already existed. The wire already existed. You know, I mean, so there's many people who did that kind of work for me. I was, you know, waiting to do it and Indian television wasn't offering Sunday. Amazon told me to do something called government where they asked me to help out in a series with the AIB boys were kind of, Irfan wanted to do. And so my job was to kind of mentor it a bit. I kind of did that and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, Irfan fell ill and I did what I had to do, but you know, we could shoot half of it and then unfortunately, but you know, that got me a bit hooked to the whole thing. I then sort of developed some things and I wrote some things and, you know, which I was working with Samir Nayar of applause and while this those things were being developed. Samir asked me, why don't you look at hostages? So I saw it and I said, well, I mean, I thought maybe, you know, if I did because it's an already existing Israeli show, right, hostages are kind of remake. So I said, it's good if I do it on a structure which already exists and I'll kind of get it a bit more, right, not because I'm, I am a filmmaker and I've done many films. So I mean, I'm in that kind of habit. So maybe, you know, I need to know whether I can unlock myself from those habits. I found it great fun. I mean, I think it's, you can elaborate on a lot of things. Anyway, I was a lot of people used to tell me that I make films like my film structure like Hazaro is a bit like a novel. Like Israel has multiple narratives, right? So I mean, supposing I went into the multiple narratives of Israel, all the characters, right? Then, you know, that would be a web show. Right. So I mean, except that I will list them into one film and they came. So I found that very interesting, you know, and I think I have my, what I think of my structure is the stories that I think of. I have a natural, and I like asides. I like developing a lot of other characters. I like ensembles. I, the reason why male superstars don't work with me is because my heroes are frail. Right. They're kind of softer guys. Manu Joseph said I'm a collector of frail men, you know. So, I mean, I kind of like smaller characters. I sometimes want to delve into the story. The side character interests me a lot more than the main character. You know, and that's the wonderful thing about this storytelling. I mean, you see Better Call Saul. And you know, I mean, you see all the characters and you see suddenly Lalo emerging from nowhere. No. Is it a medium? So then that that that is sort of interesting you more than than a than a 90 minute or a 120 minute. Everything interests me. What is good is that you can do, there are some things that are organically suited for this. See, if you don't force fit, it's good. Some things are meant for a short film. That's the wonderful thing about about now. You have a short film idea. Go short film. Right. You want to do a documentary series. Netflix offers you and all the platforms offer you Amazon everything offers you even hot star Disney everything offers you such a lot of wonderful documentaries. You have now something called a documentary series. Right. So I know America like I never did. And I know why Trump won because I'm seeing those documentaries right. I mean, I think it's wonderful. You can do what I mean, organically, what you want to do what the story that you think of, I mean, if it works, I think if you force fit something, it's still wrong. If things are meant for two seasons, they should be done for two seasons. It was just a limited series that we've done for six episodes. If it's a film like a film, right, I'm just a serious man for Netflix, which is which is with Nawaz and Western book by Manu Joseph. I've just finished a film for a platform. I've done hostages part one, part two. I'm developing another series, right? Yeah. And I will make a theatrical film as well. I mean, I'll do what I think works and I think that's the great thing about now. Like you said, it's an interesting time because it's opening up a lot of storytelling formats for everyone. Look at the characters that you can develop, right? You see something like Orange is the New Black. Look at those wonderful cast of women. Would you have ever have seen them? Would you have ever known about them? Would you have ever known those actors? Those brilliant young women actors, female actors whom you'll never have seen, who blow your mind, who are as good as anybody in the world. They are neglected, but wife turns over, you know, right? You know, they look at those wonderful, all sorts of diverse backgrounds. Look at the flowering. So talking of diversity, then I go to our next guest and that would be Rasika. So Rasika, it's been diversity unlimited for you, right? You've done quite a bit of television. You seem to be on a roll picking all of the very, very good shows and some phenomenal roles, carrying them along by yourself. Carrying shows completely, which to my mind is one of the great things that we've seen on OTT, right? You know, all three of you actually Shreya, you all have all been able to carry series purely on the back of your own shoulders. And that's despite 70% of the paying OTT audience being male and from the top 10 cities. So that's the estimate. How has the change really been for you from television to OTT? And like I said, you played some diverse roles there and I'm sure that you're reaching to play or are already in the works and on playing some truly unique roles there. So how's that journey been for you and what's really been the process that goes into it for you? I wasn't really a part of mainstream television, so to say. I, in fact, was a part of television shows which were, which didn't have the highest TRPs and was sort of not the norm at the time that they were being made. I was a part of a TV show called Powder, which, a film production house, which was Yeshraj's, one of the first few shows that Yeshraj had made for Sony. And it was not a daily show and it was a show which had a limited number of episodes. All of these things were not the norm in television at that time. And neither were these shows which got TRPs at that time, possibly because of these reasons. I don't know why, but now Powder is on Netflix, for example, and I always thought that it was a wonderful show. So I've not been a part of mainstream television, so to say, so I don't know. The series format, in fact, is more recent to me with the coming of the OTT platforms. Right before that I was more a part of independent films which were, which I either didn't get released or got releases which were very, very poor. And I didn't get the screen timings or the number of screens that would give a small film a fair chance. So that was mostly what I was doing before OTT platforms came and saved the day for me. And also, I think with Mirzapur, I started with humorously as a show for the viral fever. Then Mirzapur, Daily Crime and then Out of Love. So I've had an opportunity to work with many platforms. And what I find really interesting is that it's broken the myth that audiences only want a certain kind of content. And that there isn't a possibility of multiple genres to coexist and be successful. So the success of something like Made in Heaven and Mirzapur is a testimony to that. So I'm very happy about that because I used to constantly feel that way about it, but something that would constantly be thrown at independent film setups or people who largely worked in independent films was, you don't know what the audience wants. Actually, as an actor, I still don't know what the audience wants. And I'm not sure if... Even the audience doesn't know what the audience wants. Yeah, absolutely right, Shreya. Actually, that's the honest truth. You know, until you don't put something out on the table I'm not necessarily sure that the audience is very sure. I think all of us as creators really think that we have a formula and know what the audience wants. And you try and serve them a little more of the same thing. The oddity platforms seem to be not serving a formula at this point in time from where I'm looking at it. Of course Karan and these are a work behind the scenes more than I have. So they would have more knowledge on what platforms want and what they don't want and what those dictates are. But from where I'm seeing it, it seems to me that it is a setup which invites a lot of newness and therefore is inherently democratic in one sense and celebrates variety. And there's a lot that is being experimented with there. So I'm very happy for that. As of now, I'm very happy for the fact that up until now there hasn't been a regular practice of releasing numbers at least publicly. Though recently I read an article in which did say that certain platforms have they've released which are the top 20 films and what the views on that was and that sort of broke myths of what really people were watching on that platform. So I'm happy that so far there hasn't been much of that because then the chase really is for who can make better content rather than who can hit higher numbers. So I see all the positive things at least for myself as an actor. That will all change, Rasika. Let me tell you that. I was sure you were going to say that. We're all in this for business. At some point of time we'll start chasing one number or the other. Either it's an audience number or... As long as the business encourages you to let it be competitive in this way. That's what I'm thinking of. Of course it's a business and it's a business for everybody. I mean it's not like it's either a business or a passion. They're not binaries and they're not mutually exclusive sort of categories. And for some it's one or the other but for a lot it's somewhere in between and different projects mean different things in your career for you. And I'm sure it's a business. I just looked at the business encourages the content to be good. That's all. Well it seems to be clearly because I think at least from our point of view to establish any sort of differentiation in what is already becoming a crowded space the stories are going to need to stand out. So that thankfully is inevitable because the device is now democratized. So anyway, sorry, like I said I'm not the one to be answering. So let me go and ask you guys some questions here. Anupriya, you had a super super run and you've had some pretty crazy experiences. You've done regional work, you've done work in Hindi. I'm not sure you've done a regional web series as yet. Do you see that on the anvil for you? Do you see Hindi as more of a mainstay or are you open to doing various kinds of language projects? I'm very open to doing various kind of languages because though I don't think I have flair for languages like some people are able to pick up languages just when they are around that the local space. I'm not. I have mugged up my lines and that's the difficult part for me because when I was doing my Telugu movies I think that was the biggest challenge that I had to really constantly keep mugging them to the very end and otherwise I've always been very free with my lines. But apart from that I'm open to doing regional stuff as long as it excites me content-wise. That becomes very important that as an actor if I'm feeling that that kind of work and effort is worth it and if I'm getting to have another sort of journey and experience which is fulfilling. So something like that hasn't really come up till now. If it does then definitely is. Sure. Somebody told me that Asur was one of your most enjoyable shows. I wonder why. How was that experience? I'm not surprised that you're asking me this question because it is good. I have to do my shameless plug-in. Yeah, of course. Why not? I wouldn't say that Asur was one of my best experiences going to be. But that doesn't happen. I will tell you this because I was playing this. I have done 10 centromatic roles like in the sense which are very high in terms of the emotional quotient and by the time Asur came to me, I had already done a few of those and Sacred Games had just ended somewhere around that time and I found the role very similar to that. And also my character, Grapha Nasur, was of a girl who is traumatized throughout. So I was very worried that she would just keep crying all the time and that was a value with me. But then we kind of got me to say yes and I loved the concept. I met Unir and I really enjoyed meeting him and I loved how the way they had combined my apology with a thriller or a psychological aspect which is quite novel. So all through my shooting process in Asur, I used to keep troubling Unir actually. I used to keep teasing him that of course I need to cry again. Of course he needs tears again. And he would be so shy to say that ya ya cry a little. At first he would say no no no you don't need to cry. And then he would come back to me and he would say ya ya you need tears. But then I really enjoyed shooting with him for sure. And the whole process because the cast was really amazing. And when I watched it in fact I was very proud of the series because it is something which has been very crisply done. The content is very new and it has been handled very well. I think the pride factor was quite... All the tears all the tears paid off. Yes you can say that. And to you Shreya believe you've been rather busy during the lockdown period while most of us have been sitting home and trying to read scripts and so on and so forth. You know you're not just sitting at home because I was busy with your show. Thank you, thank you, thank you for that plug again. No I'm kidding. As you had mentioned earlier that it's been a good sort of experience to try and creatively engage yourself in a time like this. And of course as actors we don't want to get used to this. Because it's not easy. I'm sure Rasika will agree to this shooting remotely and doing everything by yourself. As actors we have always, we have gratitude for people we work with but now the gratitude perhaps has exponentially increased when you have to sit and do everything. And this is exactly where sort of the joy of having streaming platforms comes in because if that wasn't at play today I don't know if we'd be able to create something and something not half-hearted. Something which people can actually watch irrespective of pandemic or no pandemic. Keeping that aside. So it's been interesting. And that brings me to my next question which I'm going to throw open to all of you which is that the whole world has changed. Normally the six of us would have been sitting on a stage in a banquet hall and doing this. We're sitting on a video call and doing sort of a webinar and a panel. It seems like everyone's pretty certain that the entire game has changed where the way you shoot, how you shoot, what you shoot. The way things are being written now because of fears that there's a whole new normal that has come about our lives really. So how do you see the medium term panning out where productions and roles and everything else to do with even, for example Karan, are you writing differently for something that may be coming up in the near future keeping constraints in mind and so on and so forth. So I want to throw that open to you guys. Well, okay, I'll go first. But personally, I am not really writing differently because I feel we're going to get over this and knowing the way we operate. I don't think any kind of... We can all pretend that we're going to take a lot of care while shooting and all. And of course we're trying our best. But at some point it's going to become rather loose and I'm not sure that we're going to be able to... I don't think writing for a situation like this is something that should be looked at. In fact, I'm writing some of my most ambitious projects right now in this time I've had because A, one has so much more time to just sit at a desk and keep writing and which is really, for me, the most satisfying, best part about filmmaking and just the idea of restricting yourself because of something that is going to blow eventually is a bit silly, according to me. So yeah, in the medium term, if there are projects that need to get on or are starting up right away, I'm sure there is some thought being given to that but I'm really not looking at it that way. Sure. And for you, Shreya, Rasika, Anupriya, does it worry you that there's a risk to get back onto set whenever that is or do you have a different mindset which is that enough is enough and we just need to get out and deal with it as best possible? So I think that finally we need to get going and figure ways to work around this condition and life can't stop beyond a point and many people are dependent upon the film industry for the livelihood so sooner or later, I mean the sooner it gets started, it's better that way and for that, of course, every little bit of fear we have to exercise a lot of caution and follow guidelines but beyond a point, I at least I don't operate from fear like that in terms of thinking that the worst will happen. We should be sure of ourselves and be very responsible and trust each other also. I'm asked this question quite often these days that whether actors would now be afraid and skeptical of doing intimate scenes. Probably we would try avoiding them as much as possible in the script or maybe push them to maybe another month or so when people are producing a series or a film or whatever but after a certain point or maybe if it is really required then we will do it and it's full trust and faith in each other and just go with it. Sorry Shreya, you were saying something. No, I was saying something on similar lines that I happened to do just one or two one day shoots during this time period and of course the crew is downsized for sure but people seem to be taking that precaution. Now for how long they'll continue to do that, I don't know. Also another aspect is I feel we can't entirely be selfish. I know we're dying to get back to work, we want to go on set but if the numbers don't reduce, I feel like if it's not immediately necessary and if it can be extended then maybe project to project everybody has to take that call with some sensitivity just considering the whole scenario. And Sudhir, given that the old adage of the show must go on do you see newer formats evolving during this medium term till effectively there's a vaccine and the vaccine plays out all right and so on and so forth? Yeah, I think some of us old horses don't know how to do things differently, right? So I mean I don't know how to write for this time. I mean I'm writing like Karan is saying, I don't know how to shoot for time. Maybe technologically some young biscuit will tell me, here Sudhir, this project of yours is going to shoot it like this. Take these shots separately, we'll composite them. I mean maybe if it goes long enough, maybe we'll have fine solutions like that but there are two aspects to filmmaking. It's also living for a lot of people. There's a lot of daily wage workers who need work. There are a lot of assistants who need work. So I mean I think younger people and newer format should happen in the meantime so that people can work. It's also you need software, you need things to put on, right? Yeah. And so I mean I think a lot of people are shooting. I don't know whether I'm supposed to say that but a filmmaker, I mean I have a lot of assistants who are now bigger filmmakers than I am, I mean commercially and all of them are telling me, Sudhir, I'm shooting. I'm doing this show, I'm doing that show, I'm shooting from August. So a lot of people are, right? No shoots have opened up. All projects are starting that I know of and pretty big ones, right? So I mean and I hope they're careful, I hope they have insurance, I hope they know what they're doing. I'm thinking of starting a shoot in January. Okay. By which time I think I'll have written everything by which I'll think whatever. But I have, you know, I'm working for people who kind of understand that and I have a great relationship with Sameer and I are who's the wonderful, you know, understanding, not so I mean, so he, we'll be working together on two or three projects where, you know, we'll do it right. But I can understand the problems of people who want to come in and work. Yeah. Start because there's, you know, there's this people holding on to units. There's daily wage workers. There's this. That's livelihood. That's livelihood. It's not being able to pay rents. There's young assistants, you know, how long can you hold on? I mean, all my, my assistants are writers. Mostly I turn my assistants into writers. Right. So I work with them. So most of them have worked now, you know, because we're writing. It's just a pure technical assistant. What does he do? Many of them gone back home. Sure. It's, it's a tough one. But I think I'm not going to change my methodology. I think it's also. And I'm going to do it well because if there's another problem, you know, I mean, there's a standard that's not being set. Yeah. No, it's, it's, it's, it's changing. And I think what's, what's happening, the world over is, is people are finding different ways to, to, to make sure that, that content does get out and that quality will also keep getting better as, as, as we go along. There's a lot of film shoots that the bigger film shoots, some people are going to Scotland. I hear. Yes. I hear there's some people, there's a lot of places. I think Thailand has a very few cases. So I mean, a lot of people, ad films may be going there. I think might be going there. I mean, most of the Eastern countries seem to have handled this Vietnam. Taiwan. South Korea, they seem to have handled it really well. The COVID crisis. So a lot of people may be going there. Yeah. No, we'll get there as well. I'm pretty sure. We'll get there. Everywhere, 10 states have a problem. Maybe there are places in India where you can shoot. For example, Hathi's Garden, for example, Goa, for example. There's a lot of places where you could go. There are options. There's a whole unit that's going to Udaipur or Jaipur, one place that's going to stay in a palace and shoot in August. So I mean, the figuring out ways where, you know, smaller units will go and park themselves in one place. Everybody tested. You know, nobody moving out. And, you know, and being careful about food and props and things that come. There's a lot of innovation that's happening because of that. That's a good thing. And I hope that stays like, you know, like just being able to do a lot of things. Like I'm hoping like, you know, meetings for silly things are a thing of the past. Such a waste of time. Commuting like for stupid meetings is like, that just stops, you know, and like this is it. And even like post, like there's so many things you can do. We're just trying to figure out like how to stream, like, you know, sound mix into and just do it. I've just mixed my, in fact, I've done my entire post of serious men and hostages in this time. I've really learnt a lot. You know, we have dubbed with Nawaz being in his village. Exactly. We have mixed with those two recorders being in their studio. And I, in my room and the others being in their house. And then we've kind of, it's taken a bit long, you know, but the platform helps and everybody helps. Then, you know, I mean, I think there is nobody. It's likely long because again, you might want to first few people who have done it, but eventually there's a point of efficiency where you should not have to physically be at studios. You don't have to physically be at Recky's. Like I think that's an amazing waste of time. I dubbed for suitable boy from home. Very good. Okay, so good. So everyone's been doing stuff from... Nawaz dubbed from home, Nawaz dubbed from home. Swannan Kerkere sang from home. You know, all the actors, serious men and hostages, whatever the dubbing that happens in hostages too, I'm talking about, which is also ready. It was all done. The internet connection has to be amazing at this point. Wi-Fi has to be a saviour. Like it is on this call. Yeah, thanks. Okay, so I'm being sent a countdown timer on time. So I'm going to try and ask you guys the last round of questions post which we need to hand over because there's a nice big award ceremony that's happening after our panel. I want to, you know, for the people viewing us at this point of time, you know, it's been a very good start for the Indian OTT industry. There's been, of course, events such as the coronavirus, which have been catalyst in driving adoption, much quicker adoption of the space, especially paid subscriptions and, you know, what we call the SWAT players. What I wanted to ask each of you is, where do you see the trend for the kind of content in the next 24 months? We've seen a lot of crime. We've seen some breakout shows like Made in Heaven, like you mentioned. What's the next bastion to cover? Do you see things like horror and so on and so forth making their sort of debut on OTT or any other trends that you may see? I'm going to request you guys for a precise answer in the interest of time and then we can sum it up. So Karan, do you want to start? Yeah, sure. I think, you know, what Rasika, you were saying in terms of, you know, being original and trying to push stuff out and, you know, working in a symbiotic relationship with the platform is all very good, but there's a lot of data sort of coming in and I think it's just going to be start, you know, there's going to be a point where they're funneling everything into, okay, we need this, we need that. So before that happens, like, you know, personally, I want to just push the boundaries of every kind of genre that I can possibly in that time and, you know, experiment with new things and sort of try and because we need to, as creators sort of open up the, you know, the amount of stuff you're looking at in terms of subjects and things and stuff that we haven't had enough of is where one should be focused on, at least I am, a lot of people, you know, like to follow trends and things. So I'm, you know, that's where I am sort of focused in trying to do genre that we haven't seen a lot of on streaming, but... Sounds great, yeah, that sounds great, yeah. What about you, Rasika? I don't know actually. I haven't really given the thought to what has not been done already. I'm quite, I can't think of anything which is not on OTT platforms. Like what genre would you say Karan? I'm going to call you, I'm going to call you for that. What is it only that's not been explored? sci-fi, I don't think has been explored too much. sci-fi comes to my mind immediately as one thing that has not. Am I right or wrong? Yeah, absolutely right because you've never had technical know-how or the budget. I kind of hope that the OTT platform doesn't make the mistake of saying this filmmaker ko ap sudharte, aisi ye banoate. It is a natural proclivity that filmmakers have. So what is interesting about it? OTT is that there is this window where all sorts of things are available, right? A guy goes to a platform thinking he likes this, stumbles upon that and develops a taste for this. That's the wonderful thing about OTT. You can find a film anytime you want. So I hope and then like in films, meri film ko kam log dekhne hoonge, I've disproved it with hostages but supposing some guy is less popular obviously maybe he gets a lesser budget, maybe some guy gets a bigger budget but all sorts of things should happen. So I think that's the wonder. You should explore all genres. How do they know what they want until you don't? Otherwise it's the same old Friday thing. Exactly what platforms need to break in a big way. I don't know why we are still restricting ourselves to like two half films or two and a half films. What is the time frame? That's something so based in history and limited by the directly proportionate size of your bladder because of as Hitchcock said. Like Katya Bars for example is a documentary film supposing it was a documentary series now I'm sure would be very popular. Supposing you did, I mean there are all sorts of things that you could do I'm not saying that the rules of filmmaking that you don't have to make them engaging that you don't have to... I mean there's those rules but I think that's... My film or your film is 40 minutes and that's all I need to do I should not be forced into making one whole show out of it or even a feature length film. I mean so as a platform you have the capability to just accommodate something anything from like zero to ten hours and it's about how long that story should take. Actually organically hold. Exactly. I think that the platforms will allow for that and like we were all discussing I think in some it's effectively differentiation that will will really make one platform stand out from another. I think they're doing it. I mean I think you see... you see Sony Live, you see Hotstar, you know you see everything and you see Hotstar. You see all the platforms have a variety and I hope they stick with that and I hope don't these you know statistics don't come into play. There are all sorts of things and I think people are slowly given time. People are you know evolving. Let's say you know for so many years you've given them so much crap. It takes a little time but I think people younger give the young the little chance. They'll come up to it. Instead of saying no no no they will like this. This is what happens in India. There's such a star. I hope OTT doesn't get into that. I think the audience becomes a star. I mean the biggest breakout star in the last six months has been Jaiti Palawat. As actors in fact that is my worry or concern that I hope this doesn't transition into a space where social media numbers are looked at to cast actors or again you go back to the same thing because slowly I noticing that that is happening now. On behalf of principal director no one looks at any social media numbers. I am hoping that's the hope. That's the hope as actors but I have been in situations where I have had these back end conversations and that is the only disheartening thing but the good part is I am talking to platforms and I am talking to everybody. Nobody is now insisting on casting. Most of people are saying cast right. That's also giving actors the wrong message. Directors and creative producers and writers have to see it. I don't have to do an Instagram post. I am so easy on them actually. The amazing part is that even if the critics have not written the best things about a show that you have done online but it finds an audience. People will watch it. Bad, ugly people are going to watch. They are going to write to you and this is where you feel hopeful that every actor is able to with whatever even one scene you are able to be noticed and in fact strangely that ends up helping your film career also. That's one thing. I just hope that the writing is given more time. There are a lot of good series that have come up and are being made but a variety of them are still hurrying up that process quite a bit. I still think that sometimes there are very unidimensional characters. The lead writing, the lead concepts haven't really kicked in as much as they can. I've been doing some stuff for the pandemic and I had huge hopes that now with people having four months to themselves we see some great writing and great concepts. The concepts are good but again they are not woven nicely. It's not very well placed. It's good that an actor is saying that and I hope producers and platform and everybody is listening. People are hurrying things. But a lot of better platforms, better producers when I work with applause I've been given a year to develop something now. I work with some people and I hope those people stick by it and I think some platforms are also doing it. For example, on Netflix when I worked with Netflix on Serious Men we took about eight months to finish the script that was already written once before we submitted. We took eight months to I think that's wonderful. I think we've got to take heart from the fact that earlier you would be asked to develop something in two weeks. The very fact that it's got to four months, five months, six months, eight months in some cases a year or two years is actually a great sign because that is effectively going to essentially drive the way content gets made and the quality of content that gets made with fantastic writers such as Karan being given enough time to write and experiment and do things. It's going to have to professional proclivity. Some guys write quick. Some guys, it's just I'm talking about the process of development. It's just I'm talking about the entire development process till we actually hit the flaws is now sizably expanded which holds well for the entire industry. We're going to have to leave it over there. Thank you guys very much. We would have loved to stay and talk a lot more. But thank you for an amazing session and always good to see you guys. Thank you. Good to see everyone here. Thank you. Ladies, I would love for you to just go through the chat because a lot of compliments come in your way. Thank you Karan, Sudhir, Farzad for this very very interesting conversation. It was wonderful having all of you here. Thank you for your time and your insights. Thank you so very much. Thank you.