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THE OTT REPORT CARD: CLASS OF 2023
Gulshan Devaiah finds himself in a comfortable position. And being the practical person that he is, he isn’t just referring to Dahaad and Guns & Gulaabs being received well. “I limit my avenues as an actor. A lot of my contemporaries monetise their fame, which I am uncomfortable doing. As a child, I never imagined doing all this. I am trying to stay true to that image and purity. My main hustle is my career and 2023 was a good time. Financial security is important to everybody; it frees your mind. I have no liabilities or loans. I don’t owe people anything,” he smiles.
The actor feels that when a project does well, it benefits everyone involved in the project and that applies to an
OTT project too. “When things are perceived as successful, it trickles down to all the people involved. The perception improves, more opportunities are created. It improves access to more things. I don’t think it’s equivalent to a ₹1,000 crore film, but when you have a successful film at the box office, it impacts your career, too. I am happy that I did a variety of projects,” says Devaiah, who also had a theatrical release 8 A.M. Metro this year.
While it couldn’t get enough screens, the actor remains
Syeda Eba Fatima his year, the
OTT platforms churned out content not only to impress but also to demonstrate the potential of web space to produce highquality content, rivalling traditional theatrical business. While the Indian OTT audience grew only by 13.5% in 2023 (according to the latest Ormax Media Report), the quality of content soared as per experts and data obtained from viewing trends.
Farzi, starring Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi, became the most watched Indian web series with 37.1 million views, followed by Rajkummar Rao’s Guns & Gulaabs — giving a nod to the rise of noir comedy.
Unlike other years, it was investigative dramas — such as Hansal Mehta’s Scoop, Sonakshi Sinha-starrer Dahaad, or Arshad Warsi’s Asur 2 — that struck a chord with the audience instead of the usual crime dramas. Among other shows that unperturbed. “I am so thankful that the film got a theatrical release. I feel it’s very brave of the producers to decide that they will release a film on the big screen in these times. I got some wonderful comments from the viewers who watched it,” he ends. caught people’s attention were The Night Manager (28.6 million views), which was released in two parts, season 3 of Four More Shots Please! (18.8 million views) and Saas Bahu aur Flamingo (16.2 million views).
To cater to the huge demand for premium content, streaming platforms such as ZEE5 made a conscious investment in originals across languages, which met stupendous success. “Some of the originals that did well were Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, Taj: Divided By Blood, Puli Meka in Telugu, Abar Proloy and Shwetkali in Bangla, which led to significant engagement on the platform,” shares Manish Kalra, chief business officer of the platform.
On their blog, streamer Netflix credits creative collaborations for their success. “Working with firsttime directors such as
Yashowardhan Mishra (Kathal), Shiv Rawail (The Railway Men), and Arjun Varain Singh (Kho Gaye Hum Kahan), as well as seasoned creators like Sujoy Ghosh (Jaane Jaan) and Vishal Bhardwaj (Khufiya), helped us take their stories to over 190 countries,” they wrote.
While OTT offered an extensive range of content tailored to everybody’s preferences, it also saw shows struggling to find their footing. Most of these had big Bollywood names, too. Aakhri
Sach, led by Tamannaah Bhatia, failed to impress. Even a spectacular performance by Kajol could not save The Trial, which lacked depth. Likewise, Tanya Mainktala’s fantasy comedy, Tooth Pari, got a cold response.
Reality shows such as Shark Tank India Season 2, Bigg Boss OTT 2, MasterChef India Season 7 and Squid Game: The Challenge were among the most popular. According to a press statement from Jio Cinema, the platform registered “245-crore video views and 540-crore votes” in the two months that Bigg Boss OTT 2 streamed on the platform. Season 8 of filmmaker Karan Johar’s Koffee With Karan also managed to keep the audience glued to the starry banter.
While the long-format content had a good run, digital releases of films, with the exception of Kadak Singh, Monica, O My Darling and a few others, didn’t work out well. Sidharth Malhotra’s Mission Majnu, Sara Ali Khanstarrer Gaslight and Ishaan Khatter’s war drama Pippa tanked without trace. On the other hand, theatrical releases such as Gadar 2, OMG2, Jawan and Pathaan, which were released on the web much later than their theatrical releases, had a profitable year. Here, marketing seems to be an important factor. “Following its release, a theatrical film relies on organic marketing sustained by the audience. This means that a theatrical film gains significant familiarity before the OTT platform invests any effort or money into promoting its streaming launches,” notes trade expert Girish Johar.
Looking at 2023’s performance, content-wise, 2024 might be brighter!
The good ones, the could-haves, and the strongest of them this year all — here’s how digital content fared