MUMBAI: Film actors have found a new cosy space to snuggle into–over-the-top (OTT) platforms. OTT shows till now encouraged unknown faces to be stars but the real Bollywood stars are now taking over.

Digital platforms experimented with Bollywood actors in 2017 and the trend is set to continue this year, too. Platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Voot, ALTBalaji and Viu featured popular actors in their web series like Rana Daggubati in Social, Rajkummar Rao in Bose Dead/Alive, Vivek Oberoi and Richa Chadha in Inside Edge, R Madhavan and Amit Sadh in Breathe, Swara Bhaskar in It's Not That Simple, Lisa Haydon in The Trip and Nimrat Kaur in The Test Case.

Voot EVP and head content Monika Shergill believes that digital is the way to go across the world. She says, “The opportunity to explore acting in roles that are coming up in digital are phenomenal, the kind of storytelling and performing opportunity that artists are getting are exceptional.”

Amazon Prime India has seen the most popular faces in its shows. Says director content Vijay Subramaniam: “It always starts with the story. All our casting is driven by what does the story demands. It depends on the character requirement.”

ALTBalaji CMO Manav Sethi agrees with Subramaniam saying, “We don't sign actors because of their one-shot success or one-time failure. While scripting, we scout for talents to suit a character. We as a creative shop and storytellers, don’t go behind celebrities, we go behind actors.”

The ease of restrictions is probably the most alluring part of the digital business. But does a web series work only on the name and fame of a popular actor? Shergill doesn’t agree and says, “Digital is not about faces, it is about high concept stories, disruptive and eye catchy short stories that bring curiosity and serious commitment in viewers to dedicate their 8-10 hours and watch it. An interesting face can bring people to the first episode but after it’s your content that hooks them.”

However, Shergill feels that digital is extremely challenging in comparison to the cinema because you are just a tap and click away from disappointing viewers. Casting is a very thorough thought process and a big face may not deliver in the continuity of consumption. “We have to convince viewers a 30-60 second trailer that the actor justifies the character.”

The web is a great kick-starter of careers, feels Subramanium. “To tell fantastic stories, highly compelling with a variety of things and great quality, the web is a great opportunity. The creative talent, both in front and behind the camera, they all recognise this opportunity too. They believe it is a great option to add to their versatility and add one more dimension to their acting, directing, writing or judging talent. Digital is the new way of consumption of entertainment and Bollywood recognises that and want to be a part of it,” he says.

But does a bigger face need a higher amount of marketing spends? The answer is yes. “When you have a big cast, it works both ways. The name pulls some audience in but because of the name, we also feel to push it out more. So, it is a symbiotic process, the name gives you purchase and you push it more also,” reveals Shergill.

The pay scale of movies is significantly higher than a web series but these actors have been paid significantly well. However, the payment also depends on the days of working and the schedule. An industry source reported that actors have been paid in the range of Rs 50 lakh to 1.5 crore for a series and far more in the case of A-list actors.

According to Sethi, signing a known face instead of fresh is more convenient. “It increases the ability to reach to millions of people requiring significantly less effort in terms of marketing and communication, though it increases the cost of production. The difference of cost of production ranges from 25 per cent to 50 per cent after signing a known face,” he reveals.

It may seem like the actors have no agenda in picking web series but Shergill opines that movie actors go to television either to promote their movies or to host a reality show. She said that web series is like a windfall for them. There are large gaps between their films and they keep twiddling their thumbs until the next film. But, shooting a digital series is a continuous schedule of 40-50 days at maximum and an actor is required to dedicate less than a month sometimes to complete his role. At times, the actors are signed up for multiple seasons of the same show.

In the year 2018, some popular actors will be seen in great series like Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte in Sacred Games of Netflix, Swara Bhaskar in It's Not That Simple S2, Vivek Oberoi in The Family, Irfan Khan in The Ministry at Amazon Prime Video. Khan has previously starred with AIB in several web videos. Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment partnered with Netflix to produce eight-episode political espionage series Bard of Blood.

However, the international digital market is ahead of India. The international actors or the A category actors are not only helming digital series but are also becoming executive producers and producers like in the case of Issa Rae, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Kevin Spacey.

Web series allow actors to stay in the minds of their audience during gaps between movie assignments while also compensating them well. It’s about time more actors got themselves knee deep into this budding content arena.

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