Aahana Kumra has quite a few web shows and films to her credit, but the actor reveals that she herself has not been watching any Hindi language content on the digital medium for the last two years. “I don’t identify with it anymore. I think a lot of stuff has just been made for the sake of trying to fill in the void,” she tells us.
The actor, best known for web shows such as Betaal, Marzi, Call My Agent among others, further adds that it’s the global content that appeals to her more. She explains, “There’s such a huge influx of stuff to watch that come from the international entertainment industry. People are really trying to do different things. I was almost done with the cringe that I was watching on Hindi OTT, and I stopped it after a point. So, now I opt for a Korean drama or an English show, which makes for an exciting watch.”
Given that most filmmakers have jumped on the OTT bandwagon, Kumra feels there’s a lot of repetition that one can see in terms of shows being made in the same genres. “There are many different genres that people are experimenting with abroad, but here, we’re just stuck with murder mysteries and investigative shows in India. So, I got pretty bored of watching such repetitive content, too,” says the 38-year-old, adding that in the last two years, she has “literally been offered just one OTT, though I’m getting a lot of films offers”.
Another thing that might be off putting for OTT audiences is the excessive usage of cuss words and vulgarity shown onscreen. Kumra, however, asserts that it’s entirely an audience’s choice to consume the kind of content they like and can relate to.
“While watching OTT content, things are quite literally in your (audience) hands, so if you don’t like something, switch the channel. If you feel that it’s disturbing, or harmful to you, then don’t watch that content,” says the actor, who is strictly against the idea of censorship on OTT.
Sharing her views on the never-ending debate, she weighs in, “You decide what you want to watch. You can’t ban things on YouTube and if kids are on YouTube, how can you stop them from watching content on OTT platforms? How far can you tell your audience to watch something or not. The OTT audience is from 16-year-old to 60-year-old, who are sitting at home. And they are not dumb. My mother is an OTT content consumer and if, she does not like something, she immediately changes. That’s the reason why films in theatres aren’t working these days, because people are rejecting things out right. Our audience is very smart and they know what they want to consume. Censorship won’t make any difference to their choices,” she concludes.