Anushka Sharma’s Clean Slate Filmz to launch female-focused streaming platform

Actress-producer Anushka Sharma and her brother Karnesh Ssharma's home banner Clean Slate Filmz has announced the launch of Clean OTT, India's first female-oriented original-content streaming platform, according to the international entertainment publication Variety.

The streaming platform, which will be launched in the first quarter of 2023, will showcase international and regional films, web-series and docu-series as well as pre-selected projects that meet the Clean OTT messaging framework by other producers from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

Set up by the siblings in 2013, Clean Slate Filmz has backed critically acclaimed films such as NH10 (2015), Phillauri (2017), Pari (2018), Bulbbul (2020) and series such as Paatal Lok (2020).

In a statement, Ssharma told Variety, "Our mission is to leave behind any preconceived notions or prejudices over what is deemed ‘traditional’ in Indian film from a gender perspective, and instead focus solely on gripping, quality storylines which give women agency in storytelling and places them and their perspectives at the core of the action."

According to the producer, the streaming platform will offer a ‘clean slate’ to women in the industry. "We will break away from the traditional roles that they are often afforded, and the way that they are depicted within the entertainment sector. We want to provide a much more equal path for career progression and longevity for women in the industry," he said,

Clean Slate Filmz currently has two projects in development. The Netflix series Mai, starring Sakshi Tanwar, and the Netflix original film Qala.

The show, directed by  Anshai Lal and Atul Mongia, is a dark crime saga about a middle-aged woman who accidentally kills a mafia leader while the film marks Irrfan Khan's son Babil Khan's acting debut.

The OTT platform will be driven by an annual subscription SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) model that will be launched in the first quarter of 2023 in India before expanding to markets such as the UK, USA, Canada, and the UAE.

Clean OTT will be available across web platforms, mobile apps, subscription platforms and other content aggregators around the world.