National Film Award-winning director, actor, and producer Rakshit Shetty revealed that he is unable to find any 'takers' for his Kannada web series 'Ekam' on OTT platforms.
Hence, he has decided to release the series on his own platform, as he has waited too long and this is one story that needs to be told to the audience.
Rakshit Shetty shared on X (formerly Twitter) on June 17 that he was releasing "Ekam" on his own platform.
In his long note, he wrote that 'we hit familiar roadblocks every time. However, I think the audience deserves a chance and the right to decide the worth of any content.
“It was January 2020 when we greenlit Ekam. Or was it February? It's a little hazy now. But it doesn't matter. We were excited. So was the team at Journeyman Films. The time seemed just right for a web series in Kannada. And then, the pandemic happened. The world turned upside down. It was chaotic and frustrating. But we kept at it. In October 2021, I saw the final cut of Ekam. I was thrilled to see it come alive. I was thrilled to see the team push the boundaries. And I was thrilled to show it to the world. I couldn't wait! But boy, it's been one hell of a wait. There is not a single avenue we've not explored for Ekam in the last couple of years. But we hit familiar roadblocks every time. However, I think the audience deserves a chance and the right to decide the worth of any content. So we decided to bring Ekam to you on our own platform. You might love it. You might hate it. But I guarantee that you cannot dismiss it. It's a one-of-a-kind attempt that needs to be acknowledged and applauded. I hope you enjoy it as much as we loved making it," he tweeted.
In 2022, Rakshit delivered a pan-India hit with '777 Charlie', and a year later, in 2023, he had a Kannada blockbuster with 'Sapta Saagaradaache Ello, Side A' and 'Sapta Saagaradaache Ello, Side B'.
He made his debut in 2010.
"Sapta Saagaradaache Ello" director Hemanth Rao says that the Kannada industry needs to do something to change this situation.
He told HT: “Even I’m very stumped as to why OTT platforms don’t buy Kannada content. I think if I were to apply business analytics and think on their behalf, Karnataka is extremely cosmopolitan in the sense that it's very multicultural. So, even a Tamil film does good business in Karnataka; even a Hindi film does good business in Karnataka; Telugu films do good business in Karnataka; and even Malayalam. Which is not the case in any other South Indian state. The local language identity is something that has taken a backseat, unfortunately, and it is reflective in terms of business. So, when a big player like Netflix or Amazon picks up, say, Telugu films, they will possibly see that the subscriptions in Bangalore or Karnataka are not reducing; they are increasing. The OTT content buying patterns have completely changed now.”
The Kannada film industry is not as big as compared to its other southern counterparts, like Tamil or Telugu.
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