PremiumPooja Bhatt calls out traditional casting methods, says some OTT makers are going back to casting big names
Pooja Bhatt, who was last seen in Big Girls Don't Cry also reflects on her comeback after 21 years, here's what she said!
Last Updated: 09.00 PM, Apr 12, 2024
After being one of the finalists in Bigg Boss OTT 2, Pooja Bhatt was recently seen in Big Girls Don't Cry, which was released on Amazon Prime Video. Recently, in an interview, the actress discussed her comeback after quitting acting as well as shed some light on her opinions about OTT platforms and how she fears that the star culture might take over the digital platforms as well.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Pooja Bhatt spoke about how her launch was through Daddy which her father and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt decided to distribute on Doordarshan. However, she also revealed that he was told not to release it on the small screens as 'TV was a bad word in Bollywood at that time'. She said, "Daddy overnight took me into people’s homes and people’s hearts with the relevant theme… It proved the medium is not important, the story is. And that is what OTT also proves."
The actress also revealed how back in the day when she made her acting debut, it was all about a hero, heroine, villain, and a hero's friend, she is now happy that this is not the case anymore, and through OTT platforms, actors of different age groups, backgrounds, and body shapes are now getting opportunities.
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Pooja also spoke about the character she played in her show Bombay Begums and said she got a character that was close to her age and was real as it showed the real problems of women at that age. "She is a woman who is dealing with menopause, her marriage issues and love. She is not coloured with one brush. It is an OTT medium which gives you a chance to explore complex and meaty characters… I’m just happy to be part of change," she said.
Pooja Bhatt calls out traditional casting methods
However, the actress also feels that as much as OTT platforms are known for picking actors through their talent and not their star power, she feels the old trend might take over again. She was quoted as saying in the same interview, "Asking, ‘yeh kahani toh kaamal hai magar star kaun hai’. And I am like star se kya hota hai… You can make a star, that is the magic of OTT. But I still find a lot of decision makers going back to traditional old methods of casting the names first before they look at the story." She added that some people don't change even when the times change. "If we are taking two steps forward, we are taking one step backward," she added.