Mid-budget films in today’s generation are dead: Siddharth-Garima speak on industry struggles

Filmmaker duo Siddharth-Garima highlight how OTT demands and star-centric thinking have killed mid-budget films, leaving stories stranded without release. Recently in Pune for Dukaan's screening at the Mumba International Film Festival, the directors critiqued the shift from vision-driven cinema to algorithm-chasing releases.Q. Your recent film, Saale Aashiq, faced numerous difficulties in finding an OTT platform for release. Do you think the entire release debacle could have been smoother if you had a bigger star in the cast?Garima: When we started out with Saale Aashiq, both (Tahir Raj Bhasin and Mithila Palkar) were OTT sweethearts. They were doing a lot of things on Netflix and Amazon, which is why they came with a minimum guarantee, and the studio had actually promised us that ‘if these guys are there, then the film can be released easily.’ But the scenario flipped on its head once the movie was finished. Suddenly, there were no takers for them on OTT.

Now the OTTs were demanding even bigger stars, like Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor, otherwise they won’t even watch the film. For a 2-hour film, that cannot be the only criterion, at least see the film and think for yourself whether it is entertaining or not.Siddharth: But it is not an OTT that is at fault here because we never had a guarantee of an OTT release. Since when has OTT release become a bench mark? Nowadays, producers want to sell their films to an OTT first and then start shooting.

Earlier, there used to be a vision behind a movie.When we were working on Toilet, even that movie took three years for us to mount because nobody wanted to do it. Everybody called it ‘documentary-like’. Even after listening to the script, they would call it ‘entertaining, but nobody wants to see a toilet story since it is not a problem in the cities.’ But eventually, a producer came in and took it upon himself to tell the story without waiting for the OTT.

These OTTs come with their own school of thought.

They all come from international markets and have very little knowledge of Indian markets. The difference between foreign films and Indian cinema is undeniably huge, so using the same scale to judge the content is not right. It is OTT that started labeling stars as A-listers, B-listers, or C-listers and prioritising the cast over the story.Garima: Toilet: Ek Prem Katha was our first experiment in realism meets cinema, and it turned successful because there was no thing as an OTT deal. Now, producers have options. Suddenly, my studio will turn around and tell me that these stars are not profitable or bankable, so I may not release the film in the theatres. Then we go to the OTT, but they will not accept those movies. So what happens to the films and filmmakers?Siddharth: The mid-budget films in today’s generation are dead.Garima: It’s not just about the hard work and efforts of a team of 250 people, but the basis of a story to be told. It is already made, at least let it be heard.