Kohrra director Sudip Sharma on OTT slowdown: The market may be telling you to play safe, but there will be an audience if…

OTT slowdown, back to theatres? Here's what Sudip Sharma, Prosit Roy and Tanuj Chopra have to say

Paatal Lok, Kohrra

There is a gradual shift in the market since 2025. While OTT dominated the market space since 2020, various projects did not even take off in the previous year. This has left many wondering where is the audience moving to next. While many believe this will be an opportunity to revive theatres, others look at micro-dramas. Kohrra director Sudip Sharma, on the other hand, believes there’s space for all, as long as a story is well told. Sudip Sharma, Prosit Roy and Tanuj Chopra opened up to Variety India on whether there is a decline in the OTT space, and how to tackle it. Here’s what each of them believe…

‘There will always be an audience for good story:’ Sudip Sharma

“The market may be telling you to play safe right now. But at the end of the day, if you make something well and tell a story well, there will always be an audience for it,” Sudip Sharma stated, noting that the risk aversion has come in owing to the slowing down of OTT content consumption. The maker of Kohrra as well as Paatal Lok believes this is the natural outcome of ‘an overheated phase during COVID.’ “What you’re seeing now is the tail end of that. It actually started two or three years ago — it began cooling off then — and this is just the result of that steady decline finally becoming visible,” the filmmaker mentioned. Citing the example of Kohrra and Black Warrant success, he said, “Ultimately, the audience is saying: give us quality, and we’ll lap it up.”

What is Prosit Roy’s views on OTT slowdown?

Prosit Roy (Paatal Lok), on the other hand, points out how OTT content creation is a time-consuming process. He notices the shift back to filmmaking instead. “It’s very, very difficult for a new voice to bloom at the moment. Everybody is trying to play safe — even people who want to back new voices are being more careful about what they choose,” the maker states.

Tanuj Chopra focuses on economics

“Much of this comes down to subscriber economics. Earlier, the strategy was to produce many different shows to attract a wide base of new users. But now many of those viewers are already on the platforms and fairly sticky. The data tells streamers that ‘many’ and ‘diverse’ titles are no longer enough to drive growth,” Delhi Crime creator Tanuj Chopra claims while calling it a ‘short-term cultural shift that will continue to evolve with culture, finance and technology.

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