Kerala government plans to step in with OTT platform to help filmmakers

The government of Kerala has announced its decision to launch a new OTT platform on its own or in collaboration with an existing system to help promote smaller films in the Malayalam industry.

The decision was announced at a press meet by the state's cultural affairs minister Saji Cherian.

Speaking at the meet convened by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ), the minister said the government seeks to "bring all kinds of films of artistic value to the people".

The Hindu newspaper quoted the minister as saying, "The government is looking at the possibility of starting an OTT platform on its own or rent out the services of an already existing platform. The culture department secretary and the Kerala State Film Development Corporation managing director have been given the responsibility of studying the feasibility."

He added, "In the current COVID-19 situation, an OTT platform under the government’s control is important to help small-budget films to find an audience. Big-budget films which have already had a theatrical run can also come on this platform."

The move comes on the heels of recent decisions by the Union government to impose new censorship rules through proposed amendments to the Cinematograph Act. Several filmmakers and film fraternities have sent letters to the Union ministry for information and broadcasting opposing the proposals.

The Kerala state government has also announced a Rs150 crore project to equip Chitranjali Studio to shoot films as well and turn it into a post-production hub. Established by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation in the 1980s, the studio has Asia's second largest soundproof indoor shooting floor.

The minister also said that his department plans to make an intervention in the growing regressive tendencies, including communalism, dowry and casteism, in cinema and the arts.