OTT:

Haven’t been active on the blog simply due to COVID induced inertia, nothing else.  Nothing seems interesting, such pall and gloom pervades all around. But today a chance chat with a friend reminded me that I have a blog too where I used to love writing about my interpretation of Hindi films. But in the last 9 months since Lockdown and closure of multiplexes and theatres, one has migrated to the various streaming channels that are called OTTs. Some offer great content, some trash, but they invariably succeed in catching eyeballs. 

What bothers me about these series on OTT platforms is the unnecessary and over-reliance on mindless brutality and gutter level abusive language, not to miss the use of sex as a tool to characterisation. Be it the Sacred Games or Paatal Lok or Mirzapur, they all give this sinking feeling that the society has gone to the irredeemably lowest nadir, courtesy all the negative, diabolical characters and their dark noir plots. While they cant be faulted on their direction and art of story telling, butteresed with some brilliant acting, the appeal is lost when you realise you cant sit through such frightening darkness. Of course there were some realistic ones too, like Panchayat, which tickled your funny bone and you heaved a sigh of relief that thuggery and thieving may not be so evil after all and could be normal features in an evolving society.

It’s on account of this that I fear the appeal of OTT Platforms may not last beyond the regular opening up of Cinemas across the country