Rishab Shetty says OTT platforms don't buy Kannada content: Forced to put our content on YouTube
Rishab Shetty said Kannada films and shows premiere at festivals and win awards, but even then OTT platforms do not buy them.
Actor-director Rishab Shetty, who won the Best Actor Award at the 70th National Film Awards, on Friday said that he will not make ‘festival type’ films anymore because major OTT platforms don't usually buy Kannada content for streaming. Also read | National Awards: Rishab Shetty says ‘Kantara is a tribute to our land’, dedicates award to Daiva Nartakas
‘We are forced to put content on YouTube channels’
He was speaking to PTI on the sidelines of a press conference organised for winning the Best Actor Award for his portrayal in the Kannada film Kantara.
The National Awards were announced by feature film jury head Rahul Rawail in New Delhi on Friday. The awards celebrated the best films made in 2022.
"We premiere at festivals and win awards, but we do not get any platform for that. OTT platforms do not buy Kannada content, so we are forced to put it on YouTube channels. I am done with that. We don’t get any recovery from such films," Rishab said.
Rishab said he has done three such festival films so far
"Couple more are in the pipeline – Pedro and Vagachipani. I produced these films because they gave me everything. I wanted to give something back to it. I think I am going to see how it goes in the future," he added.
Incidentally, Kantara also won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment Award. Rishab said he was neither expecting to win the award nor excited about winning it.
"I just do my work, but Kantara’s win should go to every team member involved in it. I am just a face of it, but there were a lot of technicians who gave their best for the film. I want to thank the people on their behalf," he added.
he also thanked the Kannada audience. "They are the ones who took the film to the pan-India platform," he said.
Kannada film industry is one of the big winners this time. Apart from Best Actor and Best Popular Film, it also won the awards for Best Action Choreography , Best Debut Director Basti Dinesh Shenoy for Madhyanthara, Best Editing for Suresh Urs for Madhyanthara and Best Arts Culture Film for Kannada documentary film ‘Ranga Vibhoga by Suneel Puranik.
Hombale’s KGF Chapter 2 also won the Best Kannada Film Award.