The year 2020 was an eventful one for fans of web content as OTT emerged as an alternative to theatres, entertaining the 'aam janta' amid the Covid-19 lockdown. With 2021 around the corner, here is a look at five key takeaways from the ‘digital space’ from the months gone by.
‘Direct to OTT’ releases: The release dates of several movies were affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of them opted for a ‘direct to OTT’ premiere, skipping the theatrical route. Ponmagal Vandhal, Nani’s V, the Akshay Kumar-starrer Laxmii and the Puneeth Rajkumar-starrer Law are just a few major movies that that released digitally.
'Dil Bechara' and 'Soorarai Pottru' turn the tide: Quite a few ‘direct to digital’ releases received mixed to negative reviews with fans claiming that the content was not as good as expected. Things, however, changed when the late Sushant Singh Rajput’s Dil Bechara emerged as a ‘digital blockbuster’, impressing movie buffs. The Suriya-starrer Soorarai Pottru , the Malayalam movie CU Soon and Janhvi Kapoor’s Gunjan Saxena too impressed fans.
The big winners: The Hansal Mehta-directed Scam 1992 is widely regarded as the best web series of the year. The show revolved around the life of controversial stockbroker Harshad Mehta and hit the right notes with its effective presentation. Shows such as Paatal Lok, Mirzapur 2, The Gone Game, Your Honor and Panchayat too lived up to expectations.
The misses: The year had its fair share of disappointments as well. Swara Bhasker’s Flesh, the Saqib Saleem-starrer Crackdown. and the Shah Rukh Khan-backed Betaal failed to find wide patronage. The Amit Sial-starrer Jamtara, Breathe 2, and Arshad Warsi’s Asur received mixed reviews.
Covid-19 leads to innovations: Content creators experimented with different styles of storytelling, adding a new dimension to the OTT space. The previously-mentioned The Gone Game and the Sumeet Vyas-starrer Wakalat From Home were remotely shot during the lockdown. Anthologies remained popular with Ghost Stores, Putham Pudhu Kaalai and Lips Don’t Lie, making a decent impact. Two highly-ambitious anthologies Paava Kadhaigal and Unpaused are set to stream on popular platforms from December 18.