<p>Even as the theatres are shut, the writers in the entertainment industry have been busy.</p>.<p>Metrolife caught up with Sidharth P Malhotra, best known as the director of the Rani Mukerji-starrer ‘Hichki’, who has spent his days at home writing.</p>.<p>“I have myself been working on three or four shows. For writers and people who develop content, this is a busy time,” he says.</p>.<p>Malhotra says that he has been working on four different shows.</p>.<p>The lockdown has not changed his style of writing, but his level of concentration has gone up because there is nothing else to do.</p>.<p>The process has also sped up; while earlier, it took writers about a week to get feedback on their work, now they get it in a day or two.</p>.<p>The director says that the months-long lockdown is making him restless. “Things are getting a bit unbearable. I am dying to feel the energy that is far and beyond right now.”</p>.<p>It is not just the frustrations of the present, there are also worries about the future after the lockdown.</p>.<p>“The industry has slowed down drastically. In June and July, shooting may be permitted again, but even that will be with a lot of restrictions. This full-year is gone. The films that were supposed to come out in March will now come out in October,” he says.</p>.<p>Malhotra says that although he doesn’t have the exact numbers, the losses may run into thousands of crores.</p>.<p>The writing that he has been doing is aimed at OTT content, because even as the industry recuperates, it is these platforms that will thrive.</p>.<p>“For a while, television and OTT will be our only source of entertainment.”</p>.<p>“We are unlikely to go to a public area like a theatre till a vaccine is created. By the time theatres open up, it will be September or October, or maybe even later.”</p>.<p>“My take is that the OTT industry is going to boom. The Netflix numbers have been huge in the stock market.”</p>.<p>Traditionally, the big-budget films were slated for a theatre release and a<br />subsequent OTT release, while the content that came directly to these platforms were less expensive.</p>.<p>Asked whether the lockdown is likely to change this, and get expensive films to release directly on OTT platforms, Malhotra says, “I don’t think we have a revenue model where big-budget films can profit from OTT platforms. We still follow a subscription model. The sort of model where we pay Rs 1,000 for a single film to watch at home does not exist yet.”</p>.<p>“Our mentality is: ‘Let the film hit the theatres. It’ll come to Amazon and Netflix in a couple of months anyway. We can watch it then’.”</p>.<p>Malhotra’s advice for people stuck inside during the lockdown is to “try and do stuff that keeps you happy.”</p>.<p>“Try and be protective. You must come out of the lockdown with lots of stuff to work with,” he says.</p>
<p>Even as the theatres are shut, the writers in the entertainment industry have been busy.</p>.<p>Metrolife caught up with Sidharth P Malhotra, best known as the director of the Rani Mukerji-starrer ‘Hichki’, who has spent his days at home writing.</p>.<p>“I have myself been working on three or four shows. For writers and people who develop content, this is a busy time,” he says.</p>.<p>Malhotra says that he has been working on four different shows.</p>.<p>The lockdown has not changed his style of writing, but his level of concentration has gone up because there is nothing else to do.</p>.<p>The process has also sped up; while earlier, it took writers about a week to get feedback on their work, now they get it in a day or two.</p>.<p>The director says that the months-long lockdown is making him restless. “Things are getting a bit unbearable. I am dying to feel the energy that is far and beyond right now.”</p>.<p>It is not just the frustrations of the present, there are also worries about the future after the lockdown.</p>.<p>“The industry has slowed down drastically. In June and July, shooting may be permitted again, but even that will be with a lot of restrictions. This full-year is gone. The films that were supposed to come out in March will now come out in October,” he says.</p>.<p>Malhotra says that although he doesn’t have the exact numbers, the losses may run into thousands of crores.</p>.<p>The writing that he has been doing is aimed at OTT content, because even as the industry recuperates, it is these platforms that will thrive.</p>.<p>“For a while, television and OTT will be our only source of entertainment.”</p>.<p>“We are unlikely to go to a public area like a theatre till a vaccine is created. By the time theatres open up, it will be September or October, or maybe even later.”</p>.<p>“My take is that the OTT industry is going to boom. The Netflix numbers have been huge in the stock market.”</p>.<p>Traditionally, the big-budget films were slated for a theatre release and a<br />subsequent OTT release, while the content that came directly to these platforms were less expensive.</p>.<p>Asked whether the lockdown is likely to change this, and get expensive films to release directly on OTT platforms, Malhotra says, “I don’t think we have a revenue model where big-budget films can profit from OTT platforms. We still follow a subscription model. The sort of model where we pay Rs 1,000 for a single film to watch at home does not exist yet.”</p>.<p>“Our mentality is: ‘Let the film hit the theatres. It’ll come to Amazon and Netflix in a couple of months anyway. We can watch it then’.”</p>.<p>Malhotra’s advice for people stuck inside during the lockdown is to “try and do stuff that keeps you happy.”</p>.<p>“Try and be protective. You must come out of the lockdown with lots of stuff to work with,” he says.</p>
