Full stream ahead: The OTT boom in India

That it is a blockbuster time for OTT platforms in India is now more than evident; what is more interesting is how this pandemic-propelled revolution is changing viewing habits.

K Harikrishnan, a late riser on the weekends, was up by 7:00 am on December 5, last year. The law student from Mumbai binge-watched ‘Delhi Crime’, the Netflix show based on the 2012 Delhi gang rape case. After a short break, he got hooked on the Spanish drug drama ‘Narcos’. At zero cost, he was entertained for two days.

With the Covid-19 pandemic changing our leisure practices, it was a masterstroke from Netflix to host the ‘StreamFest’ in India. In a simple procedure, people registered using their email address or mobile number and dived into the streaming giant’s world of innumerable shows. The overflowing enrollers forced Netflix to extend the extravaganza to four days.

“Everybody talks about Netflix. They talk about its shows. When an opportunity like this arrived, I decided to watch my favourite shows legally. Because illicit websites pose the threat of virus attack and the constant advertisements can irritate you,” says Harikrishnan.

The offer influenced him to open a Netflix account. “Netflix’s partnership with my mobile service provider meant that I just had to upgrade my mobile’s postpaid plan to get free access to the website on my phone,” he says.

Analytics firm Apptopia announced that the ‘StreamFest’ resulted in eight lakh mobile downloads of the Netflix app in India. The streaming service wrapped up 2020 on a promising note with 4.6 million paid Indian subscribers, said a report from Media Partners Asia.

Milestone moment

Arshi Wahab, a PR and digital media professional from Bengaluru, applied for her customary leave from office to create a festive atmosphere at home on May 13. ‘Radhe’, the Hindi action-drama, set the tone for her Eid celebrations. She was thrilled as her favourite star had kept his ‘promise'.

“There was no Salman Khan release last year. So this was a big gift for many Salman fanatics like me. Of course, we watch his films in the theatre for the electrifying experience. But given the grim situation across the world, this was the best way to enjoy our hero’s film,” she says.

The hybrid release of Radhe was a watershed moment in Indian cinema. The Prabhu Deva-directorial dropped on ZeePlex and DTH on pay per view model (Rs 299) in India and hit the theatres in 40 countries. Even as other Bollywood ‘superstars’ shied away from the small screen, Salman took the plunge. The result, as per reports, was a humongous deal of Rs 230 crore.

Around four million people watched ‘Radhe’ on its opening day. Zee5, which gave a combo offer ('Radhe' & premium subscription) for Rs 499, has witnessed encouraging subscription growth.

Growing subscription base

From enjoying the action on the big screen in darkened theatres to watching a movie within the four walls of our rooms, our movie-watching experience has changed. The pandemic has made this shift a reality sooner than predicted by pundits.

A report from Ernst and Young reflects the OTT boom in India. It says, 29 million subscribers paid for 53 million OTT video subscriptions last year. This is as against the 11 million who paid for 21 million subscriptions in 2019. Boston Consulting Group makes an interesting observation that India is the fastest-growing OTT market in the world, set to be worth $5 billion by 2023.

People associate OTTs with unique content. Both ‘Radhe’ and the Dhanush-starrer ‘Jagame Thandhiram’, which was released in 190 countries in 17 languages through Netflix, largely received a negative response.

‘Radhe’ was panned as a ‘torturous ride’ by critics and non-Salman fans. The majority of the audience found ‘Jagame Thandhiram’ to be ‘underwhelming’.

“We don’t know how much they (Netflix) publicised ‘Jagame Thandhiram’ outside India. So the actual effect of such a popular release is not known. We see Netflix categorise films, but it’s tough to slot ‘Jagame Thandhiram’ in one genre. Because the film is partly a thriller about a Madurai gangster going to London and partly an issue-based movie on the global refugee crisis,” notes Baradwaj Rangan, a National Award-winning film critic and editor, Film Companion South.

The reason why an OTT platform buys a star-film is to improve its subscription base. “Anywhere in the world, cinephiles form a small group. Most people want to get entertainment and they associate entertainment with faces of stars they like,” says Rangan.

The top streaming giants like Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Zee5 are focused on producing originals and presenting popular global content. In May, Zee5 presented ‘The Friends Reunion’. It was an unscripted episode starring actors from the cult American sitcom 'Friends'. Going forward, we could witness such big deals consistently.

Language-specific platforms

As per reports, Disney+Hotstar has a 41 per cent share of Indian online video subscriptions followed by Amazon Prime Video (9 per cent). YouTube and television remain the strongest competitors of OTTs. That apart, India’s internet revolution has spurred the growth of small-scale platforms that are language-specific.

‘The Great Indian Kitchen’ (TGIK) taught a lesson or two to mighty OTT platforms on picking quality content. The Malayalam film by Jeo Baby, which got the nation talking, first dropped on Neestream. It is a streaming website only for Malayalam films. Naturally, not many knew of its existence.

TGIK’s reach skyrocketed through strong word-of-mouth. It was picked by major international film festivals. The massive hype around it forced Amazon Prime Video to reach out to the makers and strike a lucrative deal. Ironically, Amazon had earlier rejected the film.

“Smaller or newer OTTs, especially the regional ones, encourage locally available talent. Sometimes they understand these projects better than the big companies,” says filmmaker Pawan Kumar, the poster boy of new-generation Kannada cinema.

“Let’s say a Kannada OTT platform comes up. Even if it reaches out to 25 per cent of the Kannada-speaking population, the business would be massive for the company. Your primary target is the ones who speak the language and not somebody who is watching from Spain."

"Of course, the technical quality of the show will defer. What Netflix spends on a show, you may not see the same kind of expenditure from Aha Video, which offers only Telugu content. All said and done, our crowd will find value in the content that’s made for them. So the success of these platforms depends on who is willing to put money to run them,” he explains.

MX Player, which operates on an advertisement-supported model, is a strong player in the field. It lures the price-sensitive crowd by providing content for free. No wonder researches reveal that MX player beats Netflix in average hours per month. Other well-known regional platforms are Aha (Telugu), Cave (Malayalam), Oho Gujarati (Gujarati), Hoichoi (Bengali), and Alt Balaji (Hindi).

What are we watching?

In 2018, ‘Sacred Games’, directed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, turned out to be a game-changer. The crime-thriller, based on Vikram Chandra’s novel of the same name, showed what people preferred.

Irrespective of the language, we love edge-of-the-seat stuff. That explains the success of ‘Delhi Crime’ (Netflix), ‘Paatal Lok’ (Amazon), ‘Mirzapur’ (Amazon), ‘The Family Man’ (Amazon), ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’ (Sony Liv) and ‘Aarya’ (Hotstar).

Romance, biopics, and documentaries also interest people. Not to forget, Indians are huge fans of Korean shows.

No other Indian industry explored the OTT market as Malayalam did. This year, 45 Malayalam films have had a direct-to-OTT release across platforms. Among the known faces, Fahadh Faasil has been the most visible actor on OTT with four of his films (‘CU Soon’, ‘Joji’, ‘Irul’ and ‘Malik’) deciding to skip theatres so far. The gifted actor is being hailed as the ‘OTT star’ of the year.

“Stardom is measured based on the number of tickets sold. What we are watching now is a strange, pandemic-induced release of films. Fahadh’s ‘Malik’, which recently dropped on OTT, was supposed to be a theatrical release. He is an ‘OTT star’ by accident, except for ‘CU Soon’ and ‘Joji’. That said, this phenomenon increased Fahadh's popularity among the Hindi belt,” observes Rangan.

Stardom on the brink

Bollywood rightly deserves flak for consistently churning out colossal wastes. However, no industry can match the talent pool and resources available in the Hindi industry, when it comes to web series. Tamil and Malayalam cinema strive towards giving story-oriented, unique content. Kannada cinema has the potential to produce content-oriented films, but it lacks consistency. Only Telugu films, with rare exceptions, ride on star power. So will we slowly miss fan frenzy when a film hits the screen?

“Gradually, we are going to see the end of stardom the way we define it,” opines Rangan. “Earlier, people stood in line, in the scorching heat, to buy tickets. Then they moved on to ticketing websites. Now, they wait for the film's OTT release. Stars were born because of people putting effort into buying tickets, going to theatres, and willing to do so many other things for a movie. That’s not going to be measurable anymore. In Tamil, the Ajith-Vijay rivalry is the last of its kind. In the future, artistes will be called celebrities and not stars,” he says.

And goodbye single screens?

Mysureans were left disappointed when the pandemic claimed the iconic Lakshmi theatre last month. Mysuru has lost three single screens since the pandemic. A couple of months before, curtains fell on the 34-year-old Siddhartha theatre in Mandya. From having 1,500 single screens, Karnataka is now home to just 600 theatres.

“Earlier, piracy was a headache. Now the OTT service is a pest,” says Venkatesh, owner of Bengaluru’s Mukunda theatre and treasurer of Karnataka Exhibitors Association. “We failed to receive the government’s support during the pandemic. To make matters worse, OTT platforms bought films of 'superstars'. This trend will bring down the occupancy level in theatres. Very soon, Karnataka might just have around 200 single screens,” he rues.

People’s behaviour is a clear indication of OTT’s dominance, feels Rangan. “A lot of people romanticise the big screen. Reality is different. If you go to a tea stall, you will find many watching the latest shows on high-end phones. In the future, people will look to theatres only if they feel the movie really deserves an outing. Otherwise, watching from the comforts of their homes could become a norm,” predicts Rangan.

Balance is the key

There seems to be no clear end to the pandemic. While that might frustrate single screen owners, it also gives endless opportunities to the OTT platforms. This online boom goes hand in hand with poor health. Medical experts have proven that addiction to binge-watching disrupts relationships and affects mental health.

Though entertainment is one click away, it's wise to have multiple options to beat boredom. Balance is the key because excess of anything is bad.

So, what are you watching next?