MUMBAI: Critically acclaimed screenwriter and director Charudutt Acharya in his speech at The Content Hub 2020 discussed scriptwriting and opportunities in over-the-top platforms.
Acharya said, “For my entire life I have been a writer; the whole OTT thing happened just a couple of years ago. When you are working on a certain story or plot you derive ideas from your own experiences. You have a folder of an idea that you love but deep down a person knows all ideas cannot be made into stories. Because it does not fit into the kind of television that is commissioned. But, now ideas from your thinking bag are doable; it comes from your own life, your own experiences.”
According to Acharya, OTT gives an opportunity to tell stories that are realistic and honest in nature. It is a growing medium. Acharya who doesn’t differentiate between OTT and television content finds TV is now like a bungalow system. But writers will have to look at the world angle where nuances are more defined.
Acharya believes that apart from learning techniques and structures, one needs to learn the art of creating originals. Writing for OTT is evolving grammar. One has to focus on writing economically because audiences just don’t come for a plot they come for the character in the series and what treatment has been given to the show.
