Thanks to the OTT space, differentiated and nuanced content are gracing the screens. Recently SonyLiv released The Whistleblower; a story of a final year medical student who gets embroiled in an admission scam. We spoke to Sony Pictures Networks India’s independent content division StudioNEXT head Indranil Chakraborty about the nature of content in the present day and age.
Since its inception, he informs, Studio Next has always endeavoured to create ‘Entertainment Content with a Purpose’. “Shows like KBC, Scam 1992, Shark Tank India, Whistleblower, Dhadkan Zindaggi Kii have fortified our belief in the same,” he adds.
On being asked as how they choose the subjects, he shares, “Our creative team keeps researching on various subjects. They came up with idea on telling the viewers the life journey of a Whistleblower.” Notably, earlier in the month, the channel had also launched Dhadkan – Zindaggi Kii on 6 December 2021 on SET/SonyLiv.
In the next 12 months, he apprised us that apart from KBC‘s various language versions and Shark Tank, they will be launching three more web series – Faadu directed by Ashwini Iyer Tiwari and Scam 2003.
Undergirding their aim to tell stories with a purpose is the realisation that ‘viewers love to discover something in a show – the world, the land, the culture, people, et all.’ On being asked about how writers can approach and pitch their stories to the brand, he shares, “We are first excited by the story. Post that it’s all about the right talent for the job – writers, directors (Whistleblower is Manoj Pillai’s debut), actors, technical crew, et all. The talent can range from experienced talent to newcomers.”
Web-series’ are making copious use of VFX lately. He informs that they as a studio love to experiment with all new technologies but it has to be driven by the story requirement. Citing an example, he concludes, “Scam 1992 post-production was done in a virtual platform.”