IFFI 2024: Vikramaditya Motwane says OTT has taught him to work faster

Panaji, Nov 24 Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane, who is known for "Udaan", "Sacred Games", and "Lootera", said that the medium of OTT has lent him a greater degree of speed as a director.

The filmmaker spoke with actress Manisha Koirala during the session ‘From Big Screen to Streaming’ at the 55th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on Sunday.

Of late, Vikramaditya Motwane has been working extensively in OTT with his latest project "CTRL" starring Ananya Panday garnering a lot of positive response.

When Manisha asked Vikram how OTT has changed him as a storyteller after his debut in the medium with the acclaimed streaming series "Sacred Games", the director said, “Streaming has taught me to work faster. You get more instinctive and tend to make the right choices in a shorter span of time. The experience of working in long-format content has massively helped me in making movies”.

Vikram also delivered a remarkable web series in the form of "Jubilee", which told a fictionalised version of Hindi cinema of the 1940s when the cinema in India was evolving in the face of Partition and how migrants from Pakistan made their way into cinema after they lost their everything in theatre in Pakistan and were forced to leave.

Manisha also reflected on her career of 30 years as she said: "I think my career is all about initial doubt and eventual applause. When I entered the film industry, around 30 years ago, as we all know, the time was different, and yellow journalism was rampant; everyone questioned my decision to join the industry. Back in those days, no girl from a respected family should have been an actress. But after the success of my debut film and as I continued the journey, those who criticised me felt very proud to be associated with me. It was the same for me while doing a web series, being a film actor all my life."

She added, “I never had a doubt about the project ‘Heeramandi’. I was drawn into the story from the beginning. I was confident about doing a web series, not only because it was Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whom I absolutely adore, but also because of the fact that streaming platforms are going to be an absolute game changer. Now we can see how OTT platforms are changing the business by opening the door to so many new filmmakers, writers, and new talents. So, I never had a doubt”.

The 55th edition of IFFI, conducted jointly by the National Film Development Corporation of India (under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and the Goa government, is currently underway in Goa.