Anuj Sachdeva, who was recently seen in 'Woh Toh Hai Albelaa', feels that OTT has yet to become an all-actor platform. He stresses that OTT giants like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, prefer other actors over TV actors.
Sachdeva says, "OTT has pros and cons and it has not become an all-actor platform so far. I think if you go for Netflix and the best of the OTT platforms like Amazon, they still take actors who are not from television. They preferably take actors who have come from the movie's background and not from television. There is still a difference but yes, the bridge that connects films and television is OTT. I think most of the actors they pick are also from the theater background. I believe the audience is different and that is why they try to pick people from out of television in OTT."
However, the young actor feels that with the OTT boom it has become easier for anyone to pursue their acting dreams. "There is more work. The best part is that there are a lot of shows and a lot of platforms, so somewhere the aspiring dreams of many people have come on the floor. I have seen people whom I had met in auditions not doing anything so far, but I have seen them in the best of the OTT platforms. I am happy that people are getting the chance. It is not about playing the hero or heroine, it is all about the character," he adds.
He also stresses that a lot of regional casting is happening of late. "If you are from that region, then they pick you for that character. If a movie is based on Himachal, then they prefer to take someone from Himachal because of the tone and personality as it would be easy for the character to relate to it , he informs.
Sachdeva also credits the OTT boom for the evolution of content on TV. He said, "We were always working with similar stories and even if we tried different ways, we were just creating things within the box. I believe there are certain television satellite rules and you can't go beyond that and that's why people were not taking risks to do anything outside the box. A producer puts so much money into a show, so playing safe is what they prefer. But television has developed a lot compared to earlier times."
"Because of the rules that television has, OTT has formed its own space where people can do things creatively. The web highlights a person in episodes and there are different points of view, unlike TV where the hero and heroine become the focal point," says Sachdeva, adding that the audience is accepting more relatable content now.
"The reel life is based on real life and somewhere we also try to exaggerate the real life just to make it look better on-screen. In real life there are a lot of things that are non-verbal and to capture those on-screen , you have to at times make the audience focus on that particular nuisance," concludes Sachdeva.
