Bengali film superstar, Prosenjit Chatterjee recently marked his web debut with Jubilee and Scoop. Chatterjee in a recent interview stated that he belives the OTT have started afresh and moved on from sex, violence and vulgar content and instead is acknowledging worthy stories.
He also thinks that there must be a set code of rules for the OTT just as it is for the television. In Jubilee, the actor was seen as a merciless yet vulnerable movie maker of the past times, names Srikant Roy of the Bengali film industry while in Scoop helmed by Hansal Mehta that actor is in the garb of late journalist Jyotirmoy Dey, whose murder in 2011 took the media industry to a standstill.
Prosenjit Chatterjee in Jubilee
He also states that he is not in a pursuit of “breaking any image through this medium. OTT lets you try out a lot of interesting things. People saw me do different roles and they liked both”.
During a recent interview, the actor spoke about the comparision made with other platforms, he stated, “No, it wasn’t. While Jubilee was a very planned thing, I did not know Scoop would be out so soon. Jubilee was pushed almost by a year because of the pandemic. Such decisions are not in my hands. Also, I did Scoop only for Hansal, who is a dear friend.”
Prosenjit Chatterjee in Scoop
When asked about Jubilee and the storyline he added, “Yes, I am a cinema buff. I have studied cinema as I’m from the industry. I understood where my character is coming from and all his actions. There is no positive, no negative, no villains, everybody has their own journey. That is what was the best thing about the series. They were real.”
“When we say India produces the largest number of films and shows, we are not just talking about Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, or Marathi. But collective projects. With OTT platforms coming in, the best thing we all can say is that we are making Indian content. I might be sitting in Mumbai or Punjab, and making content that will be watched across the country. We are pan India in the true sense because of the medium. In terms of the storytelling, too, there are some stories which directors can’t do [justice to] in cinemas, but digital is a great platform to tell those stories. Not to forget documentation, which isn’t there is case of theatrical releases. For instance, Jubilee, even after 20 years, if somebody wants to watch the show, they can watch it.”
“Not censorship, but there has to be a way similar to television. The small screen has some rules and regulations. They should be for the OTT world, too. Also, the responsibility lies with the makers about the content they put out. However, I feel that phase has gone. Initially, it was [all] about sex and violence, which is not the case any more, at least not as much as it was earlier. That’s the reason why people are now watching [shows such as] Rocket Boys, Jubilee or Scam 1992. Audiences have also started watching content from a different perspective, which is great.”
