Shakun Batra on how the success of OTT films is determined

Director Shakun Batra has had an interesting past month so far where the release of his film, Gehraiyaan happened and while it received quite a lot of acclaim from many critics, it also received polarizing reactions from an array of viewers. Interestingly, Batra has now three directorial features and while Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and Kapoor & Sons were box office successes. Gehraiyaan's success isn't determined by the numbers game it released directly on Amazon Prime Video.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Batra mentioned that the way in which the industry is moving forward, they will soon have to define a new metric of success to gauge films on OTT.

He opines of the fact that at this point, it is generally word of mouth like,-- ‘Oh a lot of people watched it’, and adds that he wouldn't be surprised if very soon there are metrics for OTT that can be compared.”

Elaborating further, he states that there is “an entire industry on OTT now”, and therefore the metrics will be needed to better understand “the idea of success” in the digital space.

When asked if this would mean, OTT being no longer free of the number game, and the competition will shift to the metrics, Batra tells the news portal that at some point, everyone would want to compare to determine which films worked better than the rest.

On a closing note, Batra adds that ‘there is no bigger proof of co-existence today than OTT platforms’. Giving examples of films like Sherni and Singham on how they exist on the same medium now, he says, it’s not a zero-sum game, since both the films have found their audiences.