BHUBANESWAR: Days after makers of ‘Khyanikaa - The Lost Idea’ announced its entry to the Amazon Prime Video streaming list, the film was allegedly scrapped from the OTT platform for being an ‘Odia title’. The makers have alleged that the film was taken down from the platform in barely two days time after its release on June 6.
The film’s removal from the platform has irked Odia cine buffs, who have joined a virtual campaign #bringbackKhyanikaa on social media. The makers have sparked off a controversy by claiming that the OTT platform offers content in nine local languages with Odia as one of the exceptions.
The film’s producer alleged that the distributor was apparently asked by the OTT platform not to publish Odia content. “If such a guideline exists, then it is discriminatory towards Odia, which is one of the six classical languages of India,” said film’s director Amartya Bhattacharya.
Officials from the OTT platform did not respond to the allegation. Earlier, another Odia film ‘Tulasi Apa’ was removed from the platform after streaming for a few months. Producer of the film Anupam Patnaik said Amazon Prime informed the production house that Odia language was not included in its library due to which, the film had to be removed.
These films suffered despite being critically acclaimed as there is a dearth of ‘good’ Odia content. “We hardly produce sufficient numbers of films in the State. Only, 10 to 12 films are produced every year. Most of these films are sub-standard,” Patnaik added.
“We need a lot of young filmmakers to make good content. People also need to watch fresh content. Vulgar music videos or cheap content garner thousand of views online, whereas Odia webseries end up having 2000 views only,” he said. It will take time for Odia content to get recognition at the national level, said filmmaker Akshay Parija. For popularising Odia content, the producer claimed that there is a need to come up with exclusive Odia OTT platforms. Although at present, there are a few Odia OTT platforms, these struggle for content.