THURSDAY, MAY 09, 2024
The Konkani film industry has struggled to survive. It is with much difficulty Konkani movies are made and the producers generally struggle to get screenings at local theatres. It can be safely said none of the producers have so far earned a profit from the movies they made. Can the filmmakers think of exploring options in the OTT platforms that are available?
Darshan Lolienkar felt it would be a good move to take a look at OTT platforms. He said, “Not many Konkani movies or for that matter none in the language are available on these platforms. We should be present on that platform to earn some money. Netflix is always interested in good content and willing to pay good money to acquire rights. Now we have someone like Rajesh Pednekar who is taking his movies to Cannes. No one thought of doing this earlier”. He went on to say that someone had uploaded his movie on YouTube and a lot of people had watched it and if it was only when he raised an objection, it was taken down. Darshan said it was important for filmmakers to explore these options and it would require them to come up with good content which revolved around a good idea.
Rajesh Pednekar an actor and now filmmaker who took his film to Cannes said it was time Konkani filmmakers looked at OTT platforms. He said, “The people who speak Konkani are based all over the country and around the world and it makes sense to be on a platform like Netflix. I spoke to a number of local OTT platforms and requested them to spend some money on branding so that people would be aware that such a service was available and the names of the Konkani films available on the platform. You have to spend money to earn money. Look at Netflix; they spend money to create a brand and to publicize the movies and serials available on the platform. The local players have to make the effort then our film industry will also benefit from this. We have to learn to broaden our horizons.”
This was a problem faced by Severino Fernandes. He said he had posted his movies on local platforms one of which was based in Mangalore and the response was very poor. He said the platforms did not do anything to promote the movie and he had gone back to screening his movie at the Ravindra Bhavan where he would be able to recuperate his money by selling tickets.
Veteran filmmaker Rajendra Talak said it was important to make good movies which would generate good business when shown in a theatre. This he felt would be noticed by the OTT platforms, who would come enquiring for good story ideas. He said, “We are all making movies because we love the Konkani language and are in the early stages in the development of a Konkani film industry. People are releasing movies at the Ravindra Bhavan, so you can imagine the state of affairs. Give it time, it will all happen.”
Tapan Acharya is an actor and has also made moves behind the camera felt the size of the Konkani film market was approximately twenty five lakhs which was spread around the world who preferred to watch free content on Youtube. He said, “They are a couple of local platforms present who are not making any money. They are not even breaking even. Subscription model is not working neither is the pay per view model. The mindset has to change. There are so many good story ideas that will create great content which can be put up on streaming platforms. But it all starts with that mindset change.”
It may take some time but someone will have to bell the cat and approach a major platform and present his or her story idea and sell it. That will show the way and broaden the horizons of film producers and make them look at a bigger horizon.
