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Abhishek Bachchan praises OTT boom: “Less pressure to meet the opening day figure”

As we know, film makers have had to adjust to the new world of digital as they are unable to release their films in cinemas. Recently, Abhishek Bachchan spoke about the same and the new trend of OTT releases and why he’s in favour of them.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Bachchan said that in comparison to a theatre release and an OTT release is that there’s no hang up around numbers, “Earlier, traditionally, the film’s trailer would come out six to eight weeks before its release; now it’s a shorter window. By the time the film comes out, as an actor, the excitement goes out of the window because of all the nervousness around initial reactions to the film,” adding, “Although I’ve to admit that on a scale of one to hundred, if theatrical was a 100, with films coming out on streaming platforms directly, nervousness level is at 98.”

Having had a successful digital series and two films out on OTT himself, Bachchan explains there is less pressure of meeting first day box office figures, “But in case of the web, they don’t release this kind of info. So, it’s a sustained release. There’s no pressure to watch it first day first show, it’s going to be available. That’s the only thing slightly lesser — the pressure to meet the opening day figure. Rest of it is pretty much still the same.”

The ‘Manmarziyaan’ (2018) star also went on to share that he still gets nervous ahead of any project that is about to release, “There are months, and years at times, of hard work and sacrifice that go into making a film, on behalf of hundreds of thousands of people. And suddenly, the product is not going to be yours anymore. You hand it over to the audience. That nervousness will always be there — of how people are going to react — if they’ll enjoy the film and your work.”

Talking about his recent films, ‘The Big Bull’ (2021) and ‘Ludo’ (2020), he added the success is down to the film’s co-producer and friend, Ajay Devgn, “He has my best intentions in mind. I have an immense responsibility towards him, as a family member and a friend, to not betray the trust he puts in me. He picked up the phone two years ago for this film and I said it’s already a yes. It was just a matter of formality to meet my director Kookie Gulati. I was so lucky, it was a wonderful script and actors would give an arm and a leg for a role like this.”