Aditya Vikram Sengupta, whose film is winning accolades internationally, feels Bengali content has what it needs to make it big on OTT

We pick Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s brain for what the reason could be—creative bankruptcy or an inability to connect with the masses? He ponders a bit before answering. “Are we making good enough cinema? Whether it’s a Malayalam or Telugu film, at the end of the day, the film speaks for itself. If my film is at Venice, it’s because the film fared well. Here’s my analogy—an IIT degree can give us a head start but after that, it boils down to the person [to succeed professionally]. There are no frills needed for a film to work, other than that it has to be a good film.” He is speaking from experience. Sengupta’s debut film, Labour of Love, won the FEDEORA award for the best debut at the Festival’s Venice Days section in 2014 and was subsequently acquired by Amazon Prime Video. “Film distribution was the easiest part of my job. Inox gave us a big release and it ran full house for eight weeks. Abhay Deol distributed the film and eventually it went to Prime. The next film, Jonaki, got picked up by Netflix. It got picked up two years after its release, and they said they chose it because they really liked it.”

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That said, Sengupta has consciously followed a different monetary model for his films, which doesn’t involve working with traditional production houses of the industry. “My language of work is Bengali but I don’t work in the Bengali film industry. Shooting in Calcutta comes with its challenges. I have realised filmmaking is not just about the money but collaborating with someone who shares your creative vision. Say, SVF [Shree Venkatesh Films] wants to give the money, but what they wish to do with a film is very different from the process I would like to follow.”

A still from Sengupta’s Labour of Love, which is available on Amazon Prime Video

A fair chunk of films in the Bengali industry are helmed by SVF, one of the industry’s biggest producers and distributors, who also control and maintain Hoichoi, an exclusive app for Bengali content, that has both originals and acquisitions. This, say some, has created the classic market monopoly problem. But Shiboprosad Mukherjee, a well-known filmmaker from Bengal, says that this is not quite the hindrance. “SVF are solid producers, distributors, have their own theatrical chain and OTT platform, so, a large number of films made go straight to their platform. In Bengali films, satellite and digital rights are bought in combination. That is the industry model. We, as producers, will sell to whoever gives us the best deal. I don’t feel our content lacks the sting to make it big. The Malayalam industry is buying rights to my films, too. My film Kantho is being remade in Malayalam. Viacom has bought my films Belasheshe and Posto, which is only possible because the films have fared well commercially and have piqued audience interest. Most of my films are on Hotstar and the rest are on Hoichoi. What we probably suffer from is a slack attitude when it comes to wider publicity. None of us are actively seeking the Hindi film audience or fame. The more regional you are, the more global you will be.”
Thankfully, Anindo Banerjee, head of originals at Hoichoi, has a less lofty approach to the challenge. He says that what is viewed as market monopoly is a culturally symbiotic equation. “SVF has been in the business for 25 years and culturally, cinema in Bengal is synonymous with SVF. As far as our app is concerned, it is created for the diaspora and enjoys great reach, both locally and internationally. But we are now, trying to reach the non-Bengali diaspora, and have elaborate plans to achieve this.”

Srijit Mukherji, whose Gumnaami has won him two National Awards, looks at it slightly differently. “If we give content to OTT players, they will market it well. But we, as filmmakers, need to deliver genre-bending, clutter-breaking movies which can capture audience attention across 170 countries. Malayalam films are going through a renaissance where a lot of great filmmakers are making one brilliant film after the other. That’s not happening in Bengali cinema for sure. The Malayalam new wave has people addicted right now. Actors like Fahadh Faasil, Parvathy are creating a following which is hard to replicate,” he says. Mukherji, fresh after wrapping up Netflix anthology Ray, is now helming Shabaash Mithu, a biopic on star woman cricketer Mithali Raj, starring Taapsee Pannu. “Bengali films are doing well in festivals, and on the awards circuit. But it’s true that OTT platforms don’t acquire a lot of Bengali films. Both Gumnaami and Vinci Da did brilliantly on Amazon Prime. In fact, after the Amazon release of Vinci Da, I was able to sell the rights in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam. But overall, there are lesser Bengali movies on OTT platforms, and perhaps it has to do with the price they offer, which is prohibitive. Hoichoi mops up all Bengali releases and its reach is great in the diaspora, but not enough outside it. Gumnaami’s success is also an aberration. I think the OTT players are waiting for us to prove our universal appeal, before investing in the Bengali film market.”

Srijit Mukherji

While Netflix India and Amazon Prime Video declined to comment officially, a member from the acquisition team of the latter told mid-day, “The platform doesn’t have a strong presence in Bengali. In terms of demography, Bengal is not a strong point for the platform. We are still making plans to scale up.” 

Another official at Hotstar, however, says that over the last year they have seen a marked rise in viewing of Bengali films on the platform. “We have good pre-existing relations with well-known makers from the region. We will be investing more actively in Bengali content over the days to come. Over and above that, the television serials in Bengali have been widely viewed by people from the diaspora over the last few months since lockdown. Internet viewing has gathered strength.”

Shiboprosad Mukherjee

Bengali superstar Jisshu Sengupta, who starred in Shakuntala Devi, Thalaivi, and Antim, and acts across Bengali, Hindi and Telugu films, says it’s a misconception that people don’t watch Bengali cinema. “Right now, the Bengali film market is still healing from the pandemic. The last two years have hit us hard and market players like Amazon, Netflix and Hotstar are not coming up with enough content for this language. I think a lack of interest is creating a lack of output. We, as artistes, need to push our boundaries, which artistes like Paoli Dam, Swastika Mukherjee, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and I are trying to do. But wanting to watch Bengali content is eventually the audience’s call.”