Akshay Oberoi on OTT censorship debate: “What happened to freedom of speech?”

Akshay Oberoi, who made his Bollywood debut with Rajshri Productions film Isi Life Mein, has been quite busy during the partial lockdown. The actor was shooting for a couple of web shows and movies during the time. Akshay, who will soon be seen in the third installment of the hit Amazon Prime Video original - Inside Edge, took out some time from his busy schedule and spoke to OTTplay about the burning debate on OTT censorship.

When asked about his selection process for upcoming projects, the actor explained, “I have always been very instinctual with everything in life and it’s the same with choosing projects. I also search for roles different from one another."

The actor has worked in a couple of Bollywood films along with web shows including Piku, Fitoor, The Test Case, Illegal and It’s Not That Simple among others. Speaking about the difference between working in a Bollywood film and an OTT project, Akshay said, “With Bollywood, people have a formula while making films. On OTT, they just try to make a good story.”

Akshay finds the debate about censorship on OTT platforms quite frustrating. On being asked about his views on the burning debate he said, “It’s terrible, frightening and terrifying. What happened to freedom of speech? I could go on for hours about this.”

He adds, “I think when you try to control what people are watching, you’re in a very dangerous place, especially when it comes to restricting art.”

“Of course, we are responsible for the content we put out but there’s no need to randomly censor content. It’s a very frustrating debate. I hope better sense prevails and we don’t go down that path,” he concludes.

The actor will soon be seen in Illegal 2 and Amazon Prime Video original Inside Edge season 3.