OTT platforms have become the part of many lives in this lockdown time. As there is no scope for movie watching in theatres, the OTTs like Netflix, Primevideo, Hotstar, Zee5 and Aha have pulled millions of new subscribers in the past two months. But is everything fine? Can OTTs replace movie theatres?
The biggest complaint now on the OTTs is the forced adult content. The most popular series "Paataal Lok" released on Primevideo comprised a few vulgar scenes though not at all necessary for the flow.
Had it been for theatre screening or telecast on satellite TV channel, the scenes would have been mercilessly chopped off by the censor board. But here, watching an uncensored series on OTT is really frightening.
Same is the case with "Sin" on Aha. It offers nauseated experience even for the adult audiences. Thanks to the cheap making standards both in production values and content. The owners of this platform made a popular Telugu actor as its brand ambassador. Pity!
Not all the people watch OTTs on mobile phones. There are many households with 55 inch Smart TVs in drawing rooms. The families prefer to watch even along with kids.
Mahabharat on Hotstar is one interesting thing that has been pulling huge number of Indian crowds across the world. Even the foreign nationals of no Indian origin are watching the series with children. Why can't the other series be made without junk scenes loaded with vulgarity and violence. Are the makers assuming that showing such scenes is lifting an opportunity of no-censor-board scenario?
If that is the case then there is dire need for a Censor board to OTTs. Government of India should take a firm decision on this. The peril is not something negligible. It is not a much debatable issue that a larger part of crime in India is directly associated to liquor and adult content. The growing cases of illegal affairs and rapes are the result of pornography as proven many times.
Adding to this, the image of India is going to dogs in foreign lands in a vital aspect. If the so called scenes from Paatal Lok are watched by foreigners, they may conclude that such gang rapes are quite common in India. Is that not a death blow to nation's image? How bad the tourism will be affected down the line?
So far we, the Indian media made enough of sensationalism with various rape news and frightened many foreign tourists. Should the creative fiction on OTTs also add fuel to that fear?
Sometime ago, there was a strict ban on adult sites in India. Similarly there should be strict guidelines for the content streaming on OTTs in India. Now it is time to consider an OTT platform on par with any TV Channel. It is not just for personal viewing.