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KAVITA CHOWDRY
1913 was when the entertainment industry decided to reach out to its
audience through a different platform except for folklore, street plays, and
stage shows. The idea was developed to showcase the film reels on the big
screens to indulge the audience and to earn profit from it. No doubt the film
business got the boost with the help of movie theatres and blind audiences
with their interest in the movie cast rather than in the stories. The audience
went crazy after the star cast and magical screen timings and moves.
Theatres ruled the hearts of the audience for ages and saw many ups-downs
until 2018 when its competitor arrived in the form of web series on the OTT
platform.
In 2018, Netflix in India inaugurated itself with an extraordinary series for
the audience: Sacred Games. Viewers went crazy after the series was
released in the market and viewership increased in a couple of weeks. The
industry predicted that maybe it’s something new and temporary but things
went in the opposite direction when the audience went crazy for the
concept of web series and the OTT platforms.
Soon audience witnessed a competitive market even in the OTT fraternity.
Web series became a new source of entertainment for the audience with
shorter screen time and raw concepts which sparked the interest of the
viewers, researchers found out that audiences were more inclined towards
the mini screen in their hands rather than visiting the big screen in the
malls because of their time investment, pocket friendly nature and various
options in the genres.
In 2020, the lockdown was the cherry on top for the OTT platforms and
theatres suffered their lowest grounds until now. In recent years, even film
distributors chose their income source on the internet platform. Films that
were released on phone screens did pretty well. Filmmakers came out with
new concepts that changed the vision of society and cinema lovers
appreciated their hard work.
Undoubtedly OTTs are at their peak, but we can’t ignore the love for the
theaters. Even today true cinema lovers prefer theatres over OTT because
they feel the real essence of films is in the theatres away from the busy
world. Theatres are an escape for those who want to spare some time with
themselves away from home, phones, and headphones. The good thing is
that theatres are back on track so it will be interesting to witness the battle
for the existence of both of them.
