Pankaj Tripathi weighs in on OTT-cinema debate

Mumbai, Nov 18  Pankaj Tripathi has excelled in the medium of films and web series with several rewarding projects to his credit. With the advent of different OTT platforms, the space for artistes too is changing.

There are far more opportunities for any artiste today, who wishes to work in the audio-visual sphere. This has naturally opened a debate about cinemas taking a hit due to fierce competition from OTTs.

Pankaj, who will be soon seen in the madcap con-comedy ‘Bunty Aur Babli 2’ from the house of Yash Raj Films, harbours a different view about the two mediums. When asked what he thinks about the medium of cinemas and OTT, he gives a categorical reply that can trump any debate around the two mediums.

He says, “As an actor, I don’t see much of a difference between the medium of cinema and OTT. Cinemas provide a community viewing experience. 300 people go through the same set of emotions collectively; they laugh, they cry and empathize with the characters.”

He continues, “When (Bertolt) Brecht (a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet) did his plays, he used to make his actors sit in 5 different places between the audience. He asked them to laugh first, their laughter would then spread into the entire auditorium making everyone laugh. That is the essence of theatres.”

Drawing a sharp line between cinemas and OTT, the actor says, “OTT is a single viewing experience where you watch content on your laptop or phone screens. Both community experience and being in isolation are necessary, that’s what life is about and that’s how I see cinemas and OTT, like life, films too are a mixture of both the experiences.”