OHO Gujarati has platter of diverse content, says Abhishek Jain

With the emergence of over-the-top platforms in various Indian languages, it comes as no surprise to see the arrival of OHO Gujarati, one such medium dedicated solely to Gujarati content. Filmmaker Abhishek Jain’s firm Cineman and Khushi Ambient Media Solutions have joined hands to create this digital platform.

Despite being the first to make an entertainment platform in Gujarati a reality, Jain's feet are planted firmly on the ground as he refrains from making tall claims about dethroning the mightiest players in the game.

In an exclusive chat with Cinestaan, he sheds light on his journey and what audiences can look forward to. Excerpts:

When did you first think about creating a separate OTT platform for Gujarati content?

Around two years ago, we realized that there were a lot of stories we wanted to tell but some of them couldn’t be made into feature films. There were stories we didn’t end up developing because they lacked the scope for a theatrical release. Gujarati cinema should not be limited to theatres alone, with all due respect to cinemas. We have been working in cinema for a decade. But not every story can ring the box office.

We thought we should do something about this. We then had the idea of starting our own regional OTT platform. If Bengal can have Hoichoi, why can’t Gujarat also have its own platform? With that, we started doing research and building a team. The lockdown, fortunately, helped us give a push as people want to get entertained through OTT. People wanting to watch content in their language is something we have experienced in one decade. We also know that people don’t mind paying for content. 

What were your main challenges?

Every day is a new challenge because this is not our primary business. Earlier, we were making, releasing and distributing films. But this is a slightly different game because there is technology involved. So you are adding a third wheel. It’s the most important wheel. Every day is a challenge to understand the technology and how it operates. Apart from that, another challenge is that we ask people to submit stories. It is an entirely democratic process.

Your platform will stream films, web-series and short films. How did you select the content?

When we asked people to submit stories, we got around 800 entries. People were very keen to tell their stories. Of course, not all 800 stories were worth making. Around 10% of them were, which is around 80-90 stories. One filter that we kept was that the story should be about 'new Gujarat'. The story shouldn’t be limited to being in Gujarati. It should be about the Gujarati ethos. We should be excited as a team to pull it off over a period of time. Sometimes, that excitement can be only for a day. But that didn’t happen. We were excited for the longest time. Lastly, as we are just starting off, it should fall in our budgetary bracket.

Will you only feature family-friendly content or there will be adult content as well? 

For one decade, whatever cinema I have practised has always catered to mass and family audiences. So we are not getting into explicit, derogatory or abusive content. More so because Gujaratis also have a pattern of being entertained alongside their families. I don’t want to explore a theme that makes people feel shy, requiring them to watch it on their mobile separately. For that, there are a lot of platforms and content.

Nowadays, we hear a common complaint that there is an overdose of bold content on the web. Do you share this view?

There are two ways of looking at it. OTT has freedom of expression, which is good. But there can be an overdose of anything. Overdose of freedom isn’t good and the same is the case with suppression. There should be a balanced act. You have the choice and freedom of not subscribing to a platform. If you don’t like it, you don’t watch. Nobody is forcing you to watch something. 

But nowadays, a lot of people have started protesting [against certain web-series]. As a nation, our tolerance level is coming down. But slowly, it will go away and things will be normal.

Many OTT platforms are cropping up these days, all thanks to COVID-19. How do you plan to overcome the challenge of visibility?

We are aware and we are not under any illusion that we are going to be bigger than any other platform. We are a very small regional OTT platform. We can’t compete with these national or international players. But having said that, we are also aware of the fact that our USP is our content. So, for a regional OTT platform, I believe the biggest strength is regional content. If you want to watch anything in Gujarati, you will have to go to five different platforms. But here we are offering everything in one language on one platform.

So, it is service-oriented rather than competitive. We are marketing it as something that belongs to us. We have a clear stand that we are not a separate identity. It is our own platform in our own language. That’s why the stories are our people’s stories. And they are going to reach the people.

How will you manage to make movies and oversee the day-to-day running of the platform?

Fortunately, I have good people and the work gets properly distributed. I don’t need to do everything alone. So, when I am making a film, I am able to focus on it completely. When this OTT platform was being developed, I was in Chandigarh for three months to shoot my Hindi film [an as-yet-untitled film starring Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon]. During that time, work was going on over here.

Since the past year or so, OTT platforms have penetrated the market at an unprecedented rate. Do you think the movie theatre business will continue to be impacted by them when things become normal?

People have been watching content on OTT platforms for the past two years, or five years at the most. But the habit of community viewing that is going on for 100 years won’t end. In fact, I feel cinema halls will bounce back very well. What we have learnt is that now there are two mediums — cinema halls and OTT platforms. It has only increased the stream and not cut anyone else’s stream. Viewing films in cinemas will never go away. 

You have directed your first web-series, Vitthal Teedi. How was the experience compared to helming a film?

Both mediums are different. While shooting, I had to keep in mind the technicalities of this medium like how close a close-up should be and how wide a wide shot. These are few things that I have learnt after going through the edit. It’s a learning process. More than a challenge, it’s an opportunity. You know you are not limited by a two-hour duration in this medium. But we shouldn’t overdo it by stretching it far.

Pratik Gandhi’s popularity has increased after his previous project, Scam 1992, and people have high expectations from him. What are your thoughts on this?

People surely have high expectations from Pratik. He and I are grateful for his past work. But this is a new work. He has his own identity. If there are two kids in a family, they can’t be the same. Either one can be bad and the other can be good or both can be good. There is no limit to people’s expectations. But I don’t let those expectations give rise to anxiety or create an upsetting scenario in my life.

Apart from Vitthal Teedi, what other OHO Gujarati shows or movies should the audience look forward to?
 
There is a platter of content. We are, however, not claiming that we are coming up with 300 or 3,000 titles on day one. We are a premium Gujarati platform. So we are offering new original content every 10 days. Hence, in a year, people will get to see more than 50 pieces of new content. But this is premium and hand-picked content. These are the stories that we all probably wanted to see.

And there is no limitation of genre. There is fiction, non-fiction, literature, music, dramas, web-series and films. We are trying to increase our range, not just our volume. We are not getting into the quantity game. We are getting into the quality game.