EXCLUSIVE: Varun Dhawan calls OTT a ‘life saver’; says ‘pehle woh notion ho gaya tha ki every film does well on digital’

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan thinks digital streaming has been in a way a saviour.

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

October 3, 2022 - 9:00 AM IST

Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan thinks digital streaming has been in a way a saviour. The actor, who was recently announced as PrimeBae for Prime Video content, said that OTT has made Indian films reach globally. In a conversation with Bollywood Hungama, the actor spoke at length about the industry chatter around streaming platforms and how things have shaped up.

EXCLUSIVE: Varun Dhawan calls OTT a ‘life saver’; says ‘pehle woh notion ho gaya tha ki every film does well on digital’

Varun Dhawan said, “Pehle toh sab ek dusre ko bolte the ki ‘This film came and did really well!’ Pehle woh notion ho gaya tha ki every film does well on OTT. Every film is a hit on OTT and I know this is an inside thing people laugh on, inside the film industry. But, as more and more time progressed, especially during the lockdown, it was a life saver. Let’s be very honest and say what it was. Itne filmein ban chuki thi aap theatre mein nahi daal sakte the, log gharke bahar nahi aa sakte the. Kitne logon ne itne pareshani se filmein banayi hai. So it was a great savior for the film industry at that point. It really helped and boosted the awareness. I also feel somewhere it has made Indian cinema become more global. People who probably didn’t go to the theatres to watch films - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi – all the beautiful languages we have in the country, can now experience them on the streaming sites. I feel like it is an added bonus. It is how you see it (At first, everyone was like ‘This film came out and did really well!’ Earlier there was the notion that every film does well on OTT. Every film is a hit on OTT and I know it is on the inside conversation. It's the thing that makes people laugh, inside the film industry. But, as time progressed, especially during the lockdown, it was a life saver. Let's be very honest and say what it was. You could not enter the theatre, people could not come outside the house. How many people have made films with so much trouble? So it was a great saviour for the film industry at that time. It really helped and raised awareness. I also feel somewhere it has made Indian cinema become more global. People who probably didn’t go to the theatres to watch Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi – all the beautiful languages we have in the country, can now experience them on the streaming sites. I feel like it is an added bonus. It is how you see it).”

Meanwhile, Varun Dhawan will next star in the monster-comedy Bhediya with Kriti Sanon. The trailer will be out on October 19, 2022. Directed by Amar Kaushik, starring Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Deepak Dobriyal and Abhishek Banerjee among others, the film is produced by Dinesh Vijan and releasing in cinemas on 25th November 2022.

On the other hand, Varun Dhawan is also doing the Prime Video series which is the Hindi adaptation of the Russo Brothers’ upcoming production Citadel. While the original is starring Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden, the Hindi version will see Varun with Samantha Ruth Prabhu. It will be helmed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK.