As theatres have finally opened their doors after a long seven-months hiatus, there is a sense of euphoria among cinema owners, members of film industry as well as the audiences. Actor Tahir Raj Bhasin feels that while OTTs have come to the prominence in the recent past because of the shutdown of theatres, both the mediums can happily coexist.
“There’s has been intersection of content because theatres were shut. Now that they have reopened, there will definitely be a happy coexistence between the two. Nothing replaces the sense of community viewing in a theatre just as some stories are best told in episodic long form on OTT,” he says.Other than starring in films such as Mardaani (2014), Force 2 (2016), Chhichhore (2019) and the upcoming ’83, Bhasin has also dabbled with the web space with series, Timeout.
Sharing his views on why web has now become such a big concept of entertainment in the country, the actor says, “OTT platforms made the lockdown a little less isolating for everyone and fulfilled the country’s entertainment quotient. Long format stories have lead to better writing being encouraged, which in turn is super for actors.”
The 33-year-old also points out how it has aided people economically. “They are also a major source of work for technical crew as the industry gets set to restart its engines,” he adds.
Bhasin is yet to step into a film set, but he did shoot an ad film recently. Since acting is such a free flowing creative process, does shooting a film in this scenario going to be challenging considering the fear of contacting the virus?
“While I’m constantly aware of the looming pandemic in front of camera, I tune out and get into the zone the character demands. It’s a shuttling game an actor is use to playing, it’s just that the reality we return to now is way more complex,” says Bhasin, who will resume shoot of Loop Lapeta soon.
