Manoj Bajpayee at KIFF: If censorship comes, OTT will be dead

Manoj Bajpayee was in the City of Joy to attend the 29th Kolkata International Film Festival. Along with Sudhir Mishra, the Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai actor took a Masterclass on acting. Before that, he met the press and engaged in a conversation. 

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While answering questions by OTTplay, Manoj explained how South superstars are popular in North India. “OTT has completely democratized the industry, all across. Now, I was just talking about watching Bengali and Malayalam films. During the pandemic, most people started watching films from Tamil Nadu, and Kerala and so many stars suddenly sprung up during the pandemic. That itself is a testimony to how OTT platforms have helped the entire film industry. Films like RRR, Pushpa and Baahubali became not only popular in South but also became popular in North India,” said the actor. 

Manoj explained that it was because Dubbed films on satellite channels popularised South Indian stars even before this in the outskirts. “But to add to that, we must remember that Allu Arjun, Jr NTR, Ram Charan – all of them are very popular in the villages and small towns in North India. It is because of the dubbed films and satellite channels. It is because 20 years ago we stopped making films for those people. And they found their views through dubbed films. It is not that they are coming to knot about South Indian stars. They were very popular. This was told to me by a journalist from Haryana. That was an eye-opener,” said the actor.

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Meanwhile, the actor said that if censorship comes, the OTT content will be ruined. “If censorship comes, OTT and the digital media will be dead. Yes, people went completely rogue in the beginning with their content. The makers did not know what to do with that kind of freedom. Abuses, sex, and violence used to be shown rampantly. Now they are calming down. People are being much more responsible in their storytelling. I think if you don't censor it, people will be responsible. They are intelligent enough to be sensible,” he said.