The recently launched Rs 199-plan of Netflix India should have turned out to be a masterstroke for the American streaming giant because nothing else explains the company’s plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore here for the years 2019 and 2020.
On the other hand, Amazon Prime and Hotstar (owned by Disney), which reportedly have an edge over Netflix in terms of market share, are also doing their best to maintain the status quo.
Amazon Prime’s founder, Jeff Bezos, during his recent visit to India, announced he is doubling the investments in India noting that “there is nowhere that the streaming service (Prime) is doing better than India”.
Amidst all the rivalry, these OTT players have a common foe: censorship. Along with the Mobile and Internet Association of India, they reportedly worked out a set of self-regulatory checks to keep government censorship at bay at the start of 2019.
However, towards the end of last year, Sacred Games and Leila, which faced huge opposition from many outfits, sparked the old debate of whether or not OTT platforms should come under the ambit of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
But the issue seems to have been put to rest for the time being, with the ministry trusting, momentarily, in their self-censorship.
Subho Ray, the President of Internet and Mobile Association of India, says, “We have just launched the self-regulatory programme on February 5. It is too early to talk about the nature of the regulations.”
Meanwhile, many are in favour of censorship of these platforms including, the Indian public, according to a study conducted by YouGov, a Britain internet-based market research firm.
Pahlaj Nihalani, the former Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), says “There should be a single law for all the content in India. Why do some films and series get more privilege because they are made for a different platform? Even the content on YouTube doesn’t require any certificate. The CBFC guidelines are laid to aid people in choosing what to watch. In the name of freedom of expression, they don’t respect Indian culture. In my opinion, everything should come under one umbrella.”
However, OTTs are unique as the content is not exhibited in public and neither do they show user-generated content like YouTube. This argument helps keep OTTs away from government interference.
Incidentally, this is a global problem for companies. Recently, Netflix faced severe backlash for its Brazilian film, The First Temptation of Jesus, a parody that depicted Jesus as a homosexual.
The film was initially banned but the decision was eventually overturned. Similar is the streaming giant’s issues with Turkey.
When the trailer of El Camino was released there, an image of a cigarette (held by Aaron Paul) was removed by the platform. It is evident that OTTs are self-aware and keen not to push the line.
Soumendra Padhi, the director of Netflix’s Jamtara: Sabka Number Aayega, says, “At the end of the day, the responsibility belongs to the filmmaker.
What applies outside of India can’t be applied here because ours is an emotional country.”Yet, Padhi agrees that his series, which faced severe backlash online for using a derogatory word against Dalits, wouldn’t have been possible without Netflix.
He says, “It doesn’t mean the showmakers believe in the word used by the character. Our Censor Board wouldn’t have allowed it.”
Genuine filmmakers do think about the ‘Laxman Rekha’, assures Ranga Yali, the director of controversial Zee5 web series, Auto Shankar, which was panned by many for using swear words.
“Trust me, the point was not to use them necessarily, and yet, it turned out to be too much for some viewers. It is true that there is more freedom with OTT for now, but this shouldn’t be used just for shock value. A creator, who is really concerned about art, would never do that,” says the filmmaker.