Swwapnil Joshi: The Lockdown And Those 2 Years Have Changed How India Consumed OTT Content, OTT Is Here To Stay

Swwapnil Joshi speaks up about his film 'Vaalvi' which premiered on Zee5 this Friday. The film has been garnering a great response from audiences all over.

Prateek Sur

Updated on: 25 February 2023 1:38 pm

Swwapnil Joshi

Swwapnil Joshi was one of the very few big stars from the Marathi film industry who jump onto the OTT bandwagon much before the pandemic. He has since done some of the highest-grossing shows on varied OTT platforms. His latest film ‘Vaalvi’ has finally been released on Zee5 after a great run at the theatres.

Speaking to Prateek Sur, Swwapnil Joshi opens up about how OTT is changing things in today’s times, whether OTT is going to stay, why he will always remember working on ‘Vaalvi’ and lots more. Excerpts:

Do you think OTT is giving actors a larger playground to experiment with their craft? How has OTT changed things for you as an actor?

One of the outcomes of the Covid pandemic was the expansion and penetration of the OTTs. It just swept through the entertainment ecosystem during the lockdown period. I was fortunate to make the jump onto the OTT bandwagon just before the lockdown started. It’s extremely unfortunate that covid hit us but every cloud has a silver lining and the silver lining for me was ‘Samantar’, my first OTT foray after which the lockdown happened.

Is OTT going to stay?

The lockdown and those two years have changed how India consumed OTT content and the OTT is here to stay. There is going to be consolidation, there is going to be an aggravation and the game of big fish – small fish but more OTT platforms are going to come and cater to different sets of audiences and their needs and fulfil those entertainment needs.

For artists, every project teaches them something. What did you take back from 'Vaalvi’ you’re your character or the people that you worked with?

While I take back a lot of fond memories from the film as it’s on Zee5 now. What I take back the most is that I have re-learned this lesson that if the audience decides to make a film big then nothing can stop it. The other takeaway is that no amount of publicity, marketing and promotion is going to help or stop good content from performing. Content is king and this is my learning from this film.

The film did well in theatres as well…

The way people have lapped on this film in the theatre and by the time it is released on OTT, we will be entering the seventh week of release and it’s a huge thing in today’s day and age. Where everything was calculated over the weekend of the release, for a film to sustain for 6-8 weeks, to keep doing business and to have a steady influx of people to watch the film on the big screen even as it releases on an OTT, it’s amazing. So, I think there are a lot of takeaways and I have learned a lot of things from my director and writers as well.