Shahid Kapoor: 'How would you judge a film like Kantara? It was not a spectacle when it was released'

There is no denying the fact that OTT platforms have come as a boon, not just for the actors, who touched a whole new level of versatility with ample projects, but also for the audiences, who have been experiencing a vast variety of content from different corners of the world. While OTT is considered nothing less than a godsend in our lives, many stars and filmmakers have been heard claiming time and again that movies in the theatres haven’t been giving the success rates compared to before the COVID era, as the audience believes that it will eventually premiere on the OTT platform. However, Shahid Kapoor believes that whether on the big screen or OTT platform, good content will always work. Shahid, who is all set to make his web series debut and gearing up for the release of his upcoming crime thriller series Farzi, gave the example of the breakout success of last year’s Kantara.

The news agency IANS quoted Shahid as saying, “How would you judge a film like Kantara, man? It was not a spectacle when it was released. Of course, it is a spectacle to watch but it was the audience that made that film what it has become now.”

Shahid added that everything depends on the “cinematic experience a film could provide” to the audience. While agreeing that “there is a clear demarcation between different content pieces,” Shahid claimed that he doesn’t see this changing the trend. The Jab We Met star noted, “I just feel that multiple things have happened in the last three years and the differentiation is what I want to watch at home and what I am willing to watch in the theatres.” The actor believes that the audience is “not willing to pay their hard-earned money for mediocre content.” Shahid said that content won’t work until and unless it has a certain scale, is good, and has a certain entertainment quotient.

The Jersey star added that the audience is willing to go to the theatre, but one needs ‘to bring their A-game to the table.’ Claiming that the pandemic was extremely challenging for the entire film fraternity, Shahid reasoned the same by saying that actors work under certain conditions, and gave an instance of his own scenario when he was working for Farzi. The actor said that before the shoot started the stars hardly met and were constantly brainstorming on Zoom calls. Shahid concluded by saying, “Filmmaking is a very touch-and-feel kind of a job, if you have to do a recce, you will have to visit the location and mark the boundaries for the shots, the props or the production design.”

Meanwhile, on the work front, Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K.’s Farzi will premiere on 10 February on Amazon Prime Videos. The crime thriller series also features Vijay Sethupathi and Raashi Khanna.