The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has today extended the last date of submission of entries of the inaugural edition of the Best Web Series (OTT) Award from August 25 to 6pm on September 4 for online submissions, while the hardcopy of the series can be submitted by September 12, 2023.
In the event that September 12, 2023 is declared a holiday, the next working day will be considered as the final date for receipt of the application.
The decision to extend the date of submission was taken by the Ministry with an effort to ensure that maximum number of Web Series’ can participate for the award that intends to recognise the creative prowess of the OTT platform which has grown manifold in the last two years.
An eminent jury, consisting of personalities from the entertainment industry, will choose the Best Web Series and the winner will be awarded Rs 10 lakh as cash prize, along with certificates at the 54th International Film Festival of India.
To be eligible for the award, the web series has to be an originally created/shot series in any Indian language and has to be an original piece of work either commissioned or produced. Further, the series should have been co-produced, licensed, or acquired with the purpose of releasing ONLY on the OTT platform.
Also, to be eligible for the award, all episodes of the entry (web series/season), should have been released on an OTT platform from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022.
Further details of the eligibility for the awards is available on the websites of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, National Film Development Corporation and IFFI.
Streaming services have been able to get the maximum profits during the pandemic. They have been a lifesaver for several people. As a result, several OTT platforms stream some of the best series for us. But there have been some issues for the users. One of those problems has been the subscription service that platforms have. It is sometimes difficult for the users to shell out money every month for the subscription.
So, there has been a revelation by XDA Developers that there are chances that Google will introduce ad-based movie streaming on Google Play Movies. It has been done to make the platform more popular. It has been revealed after an analysis of the APK of the app. It is similar to the feature that YouTube provides.
In the entertainment market, online streaming platforms have been the king for the last couple of years. Several movies and shows are being released especially for the OTT platform. As a result, several big production houses like Bollywood, Hollywood and various others all around the world are creating content for the OTT platform.
As a result, platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix and many others are already gaining users and popularity. But Google Play Movies has been on the back foot in this case. The content that is available on this platform is paid. Due to that, the users are finding it difficult to use the platform as they will have to pay individually for each content.
So, now Google might launch this service for its users. But there is no clarity that which content will be free and which will not. Once, the confusion is clear then it will be better for the users.
On the other hand, mobile networks are also making users in India stream more content over the internet. The decrease in internet costs in the country is also making it possible for users to consume more data. All of these changes were made possible by the introduction of the JIO 4G network in the country.
Now, there is another point for streamers to take advantage of. The feature is that of the higher penetration of smart devices in various households. The pandemic pushed several people to buy devices or upgrade their existing one. This was done to complete the various tasks that people need a device for. Also, the new devices helped various people beat their boredom by watching content online.
The higher usage and the slow but steady expansion of devices that support streaming platforms are also making it easier for people to stay UpToDate with their favourite shows. It is due to the support that various devices like tablets, smartphones and many more have. The continuous software support which is currently being provided by the major smart device companies is also helping in making various devices eligible for use by the users. The constant support is also making the various streaming platforms push out an update for their apps so that they can work on various devices.
So all of these points are going to help google play movies get more viewers after they release the ad-free support for the users. But for the time being this news must be taken with a pinch of salt.
Cinema is not only a means of entertainment, but it is a form of art, like any other. Cinema has the ability to showcase the experience of witnessing human emotions on the screen, contrary to reading a book. It provides a better mode of expression as it is an amalgamation of sound, images, dialogues, music, people and their emotions.
The world of cinema has always been an important medium of communication among the masses. It is also a means of expressing new ideas and thoughts in an impactful manner. Cinema helps the makers and the viewers to express agreement, dissent and concern regarding social issues and norms. And one such topic of discussion can be the representation of queers in the realm of Indian cinema, mainly Hindi cinema.
Queer Stereotyping
Needless to say there has always been stereotyping of homosexual characters in Hindi movies, at least in the early 2000s. The representation of homosexuals has only been in a very light matter, usually in the form of mockery. A gay man would be typically casted as the comical sidekick who would not really have much to offer to the movie’s plot.
The misguided portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community was also limited to casting only gay characters. Hindi movies such as Dostana (2008), Straight (2008), Mastizaade (2016) deals with queer representation, mainly gay portrayal as comic prop to generate laughter among the masses, at the stake of jeopardising queer identities.
Sincere Queer representation
With the passage of time and the growing awareness among the masses it can be noticed that there has been few attempts at a non-comical queer presentation in Hindi cinema. Before mainstream commercial cinema began their queer representation journey, Hindi art cinema portrayed queer characters with much conviction and depth.
Movies like My brother…Nikhil (2005), Margarita with a Straw (2015), Aligarh (2016) and a few more, have dealt with queer representation with utmost sincerity and sensitivity. And not just limiting their portrayal of queer characters to gay men only.
It can also be noticed that there has been a shift in queer representation from art to commercial cinema as well. With the growing awareness on LGBTQ+, commercial movies began highlighting queer representation as central characters. Such portrayal further helped in queer sensitization and acceptance by the mass public.
Movies such as, Ek Ladki toh Dekha toh Aisa Laga (2019), Subh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020), Chandigarh kare Aashiqi (2021), Badhaai Do (2022) to name a few, has helped the masses through infotainment to understand the daily struggles a queer person has to endure.
OTT and Queer representation
The OTT platform has further broadened the reach to the audience on a day to day basis. Especially in the times of a pandemic when multiplexes were shut, OTT bridged the gap and filled the void. Over the few years the OTT platform has grow immense in term of providing quality content with reference to true representation of the community.
Web projects such as Made in Heaven, (2019), Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare (2019), Bombay Begums (2021), Ajeeb Daastaans (2021), explored the queer aspect with utmost maturity and sincerity.
The decriminalisation of Section 377 of the IPC in 2018 has further lead to the opening up of new scope and liberty in displaying queer characters. This really widened the space for new convincing projects to establish and delivery themselves with the truest essence of realism. Hopefully in the coming times Hindi cinema portraits queers stories at a much more sensitive and engaging way.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has had an impact on nearly all aspects of our lives, and the film industry is no exception.Movie theaters are by nature a high-risk environment, as they often pack hundreds of people into a small space together for extended periods of time. Additionally, it can be difficult and time-consuming to clean them, making them less than ideal for a highly contagious virus like COVID-19.So how have businesses like movie theater chains and film production companies adjusted to these unprecedented times?
Movie theaters have arguably been hit the hardest, and several major chains such as Cinemex have been forced to close down permanently. Even AMC, the largest chain in America, may be forced to file for bankruptcy. Some smaller chains and independent theaters have allowed small groups of people to book private screenings, in an attempt to earn some money. Several states have announced support for a socially-distanced reopening of theaters, but with distribution companies not releasing new films and most film-goers wary, it remains to be seen if many will reopen at all.
Because of the Covid-19 lockout, the demand for OTT content has skyrocketed. The largest participant in this market, ‘Netflix,’ had a huge income that surpassed $25 billion US dollars in 2020. Similarly, the income of other OTT platforms has skyrocketed! Have you ever wondered how these OTT media generate money?
Over the top media is a video streaming technology that allows you to enjoy content while connected to the Internet. There is also a large selection of content available in both free and paid versions, such as movies, TV series, and documentaries.OTT media creates movies by assembling a crew and funding them out of their own pockets. The second option is to buy the rights from filmmakers in order to expand their content inventory.
With the use of machine learning known as Algorithm, over the top media know their audience’s preferences. This medium is dubbed “The Future of Entertainment,” as our generation is completely reliant on these channels for entertainment. The profitability of OTT media is determined by the number of viewers and subscribers. The more people that use these platforms, the more money may be made through the aforementioned revenue models.
Once a movie becomes a hit and garners huge box office collections, its subsequent satellite and OTT rights will also be priced at exorbitant rates, said Umrotkar. “…that way, OTT releases are not going to compensate for the potential the movie could have had,”both cinemas and OTT platforms will coexist beautifully.
The Supreme Court has asked the central government what steps will be taken to curb the objectionable content of over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Alt Balaji. The apex court on Tuesday asked the government to file an affidavit in six weeks.
Adult content, foul language and anti-national ideology are some areas where Indians do not agree with the online curated content.
Out of the concerned, most (25 percent) are worried about the fact that adult content is easily accessible to children.
As many as 63 percent of respondents feel that some kind of censorship or at least a code of conduct approved by the government is the need of the hour.
A three-member bench headed by CJI SA Bobde was hearing a plee seeking regulation of content of the OTT platform. Additional Solicitor General KM Natraj told the bench that the issue was being considered. The bench said, what does it mean the government considering it? Is the law being brought or something? The bench suggested to file an affidavit in six and inform them about their what they are thinking of doing. The petition calls for an autonomous body to monitor OTT content.
Just thinking is not enough: The bench said, merely saying that the government is considering this issue is not enough. To this, Additional Solicitor General Natraj said, “The issue is under consideration, but a final decision has not been taken yet as to what steps will be taken.” The bench also asked in its affidavit what steps the government will take.
The abuse of freedom of expression by indiscretion .The petition claims that more than 40 OTT and video streaming platforms are directly abusing the freedom of expression. These include smoking, more violence, sexual scenes, lewd language, which are usually displayed with caution. Their language is uninteresting due to lack of monitoring mechanism, visual and dialogues are obscene.
A notice was issued last year also to the Ministry of Broadcasting.
The petitioners say, there is currently no law or autonomous body that regulates the digital content of any filter or screening. This is misusing artistic freedom. Significantly, the court issued information on the petition related to regulating and monitoring the OTT platform on October 15, 2020 last year.
The imposition of lockdown on account of the COVID 19 pandemic marked a major retard in the growth of many leading industrial giants. Unlike the rest, OTT is one among the few industries which marked an exponential growth since its inception. Though the OTT platforms are not a fresh face in the entertainment industry, the burgeoning of the sector was a never expected one until lockdown happened. Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney Hotstar are the few OTT platforms which benefited from the imposition of lockdown.
The television broadcasting companies failed to meet the demands of its viewers and was forced to rerun existing contents as the production industry was under a halt. The average screen time has simultaneously increased which resulted in people searching for fresh contents. The video on demand services gained popularity over the masses as it provided the flexibility to watch contents on our likes at our wish. In addition to this, these platforms released their fresh as well as original contents consistently and managed to maintain the initial consumer interest. These conveniences dragged the viewers towards OTT services and generated a buzz by increasing the traffic into these platforms even during the pandemic times. While the theatres and multiplexes remained closed for many months, film producers noticed the scope of the OTT industry and made an audacious move by releasing their films digitally for the first time to cater to a wider set of audience.
It is estimated that an average person spends around 40% of their waking hours in front of a screen which makes almost seven hours a day. The OTT platforms have added a whopping 3-4 million subscribers to their existing viewership. This figure also included people viewing more non-broadcast content on platforms like YouTube and gaming sites. Just like how television revolutionised the early 90’s, OTT is bringing a new wave of change to the entertainment industry. These changes are always for the better and are inevitable.
Over The Top (OTT) platforms are on-demand content streaming services which provide the viewers access to movies and TV shows directly through the internet rather than using broadcasting mediums like cable TV, satellite TV etc. Some of the most common OTT platforms are NETFLIX, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, HOTSTAR etc. The spontaneous boom of OTT platforms happened out of the blue when people were forced to stay back at their homes during lockdowns imposed due to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic. The major advantage of OTT services over the traditional platforms is the convenience of watching favourite shows at our fingertip within the comforts of our home at a reasonable cost.
Recent reports have shown that the OTT platforms promises the low budget films with less saleable names, a larger audience with a considerable slashed cost on advertisement and distribution. With the shutdown of movie theatres, OTT releases of latest movies became a new trend. In view of the rapidly increasing consumers, the OTT platforms have now shifted their focus onto creating contents on their own meeting the varying demands and tastes of its viewers.
The discourse on positioning the OTT streaming platforms and theatres is a present-day development in the entertainment sector. Cinema being one of the worst hit industries during the pandemic found itself in a greater challenge of sustenance. The effect nudged to the surface by this crisis was evenly handed for both the movie lovers and film industrial workers. This opens the door to the heroic entrance of OTT platforms saving both parties, granting industry the monetary benefits and viewers a platform to entertain themselves within their homely comforts at an affordable rate which propounds a win-win situation. Having said that, the inaccessibility of the OTT services to a large mass counts as the worst part as it is the working middle class people, the so called majority consumers, who contribute to more than 75% of the viewership leaving the rest 25% to decide between poor, lower middle class and elites. The OTT results in the shutting down of entertainment to the unfortunate for whom technology is still a luxury.
OTT platforms are never a newly discovered competition for theatres as they have lived through the worst times and challenges during VCRs, DVDs and the still relevant piracy days. This testifies the unending interest people carry for the theatrical experiences and any alteration is beyond thought. Though the OTT media services are propelled by the rise in the standard of living, evolution of smartphones, and affordable internet connectivity; socialising and community viewing experience from theatres will remain unmatched. Moreover, the real like involvement offered by big screens is something the streaming platforms can never tone with . In conclusion, OTT platforms can coexist with the theatres but never top it.
Friday morning. First day, first show. After waiting for months, the movie finally got released. I called up Udit to ask him when he will reach. I stood in the queue for two large tubs of popcorn and 2 large drinks. After all, it’s just unthinkable to watch a movie without some munchies to ruminate. He arrived exactly 3 minutes late. Infuriated, we took our seats and watched the entire movie in silence. At the end, I just said to him, “I will never ever watch a movie with you.”
Four months has passed by since then. I still regret to utter those words to him. Will we ever be able to enjoy going to the cinema halls? Maybe yes, but it won’t be the same again.
One of the most lucrative and labor intensive industry, the film industry had to suffer a huge blow due to this pandemic. Big releases such as Sooryavansham, Pahwa, 83 and other such big banner movies got postponed owing to the commencement of lockdown. Shootings have been halted since Modi declared the lockdown and is still in process. Shutters are still down for cinema halls, malls and other small theatres, at least in India. Movies which were progressing at the time the lockdown was declared had to be stopped in the middle. Film industry is just a cost effective and cost intensive business that such a blow like this have seriously crippled not only the major stakeholders but also the daily wagers, contractual workers and the shift workers. And considering the fact that Indian economy is in shambles now, it is least likely that consumers will show high interest in visiting theater, let alone trying to meet ends.
India is a highly populated country where according to Malthusian theory, our food production follows arithmetic progression and our population follows geometric progression. No doubt, the only factor that has forever been booming in India is the population and today that is creating chaos. Our film industry employs actor, directors, producers, screen-writers and various major stakeholders but the majority of people in the set are the daily wagers, contractual workers and the shift workers. This lockdown had taken away their jobs and they are trying to thrive on their savings which is also dwindling. Major concern is faced by the small banners because they feel that let alone big banners, small banner movies have very less chance to appear in the multiplexes owing to such large investments in location, travel, casting, sets and so on and so forth. Recent study says that the film industry is going to be reopened at the last because the last thing most consumers would want is to go to halls, surpassing all the barriers of hygiene and sit and watch movies.
But whatever be the situation, I personally feel that the lockdown will be a great chance to reform the current scenario of our film industry. Firstly, due to major cash crunch and dwindling economy, producers will actually give a lot of thought before producing those B-rated, mindless, long and illogical movies. They will actually need to sit, write down a script keeping in mind the consumers’ current economic and needs scenario. Secondly, this is a great opportunity for the complete digitization of the industry. OTT platforms such as Amazon Prime video, Hotstar+Disney and Netflix should take the front seat in driving this lucrative business. Consumers have already switched to this relaxing mode of entertainment and they have adapted to this new normal. There has been a huge spike in the monthly and annual subscriptions for these platforms. This is particularly a great news for the small banner films because they can focus on producing movies having very strong, powerful and meaningful content and if the total investment is less than 5 crores, OTT platforms can buy those movie to create hype among the consumers. Lockdown will surely be the best thing for consumers who are particularly interested in watching meaningful movies devoid of any nepotistic characters. And thirdly, and this especially go out for the those cohorts who spend huge amounts in this sector, it is a great opportunity for them to curb on their spending costs and shift towards the more safe and indoor means of entertainment.
But whatever be the situation, the film industry will suffer a huge blow and there are no sign of restoration of releases or shooting till the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. A lot of modifications needs to be done both in the films sets as well as multiplexes. A few suggestions for multiplexes include limiting the sell of tickets, monitoring the queues at washrooms and food counters, sitting while still maintaining the social distancing and especially modification needs to be made to allow 4 entry and exit points. There are movie-buffs and who will definitely go to watch movies on screens and the film industry should try to target such cohorts.
After all we all know that human beings are social animals and they will definitely return, today or tomorrow.
Eduindex News 
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