Bollywood star Aamir Khan has talked his heart out on a talk show called Aap Ki Adalat about a creeping menace in the movie industry, how the presence of streaming and OTT services are ruining the movie theatres.
During his candid and emotional interview, Aamir revealed why he is concerned with the speed at which the films are being pushed out of the theatres into streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, and others. He added that not everyone will go to the theatre when the same movies are being posted online just after few weeks of being aired at the cinemas.
And what we do, Aamir said, what we do is go and tell people to go to the theatre to look at a movie. However, when they fail to do so we tell them, No problem, you can see it in 8 weeks in the comfort of your living room. Then why should anybody spend cash at the theatre?”
In order to put this point in an even more understandable way, Aamir presented a simple example. Well, sort of like I attempt to sell you a glass. Unless you want to buy it, I will tell you, I will send it to in your home in 8 weeks, as a gift. You will wait, of course! You will not purchase it. That is exactly what is happening to movies nowadays.
This trend will kill spirit of cinematography
Aamir thinks such a tendency can kill the spirit of cinematography. He reckons that people prefer the theatre movie watching experience more than watching a story. We are all used to going to the cinema and watching movies. It is rather magic -you are on the dark with hundreds of people, you laugh together, you cry together, and it all feels like you feel. We would have complained about the movie even though we did not like the movie. That is what made it special.”
The actor even received lucrative deals up to as much as 60 to 65 crore by OTT Sites so as to release his movies at the earliest into the online domain, but he refused. He claimed that he did not want to offend the theatre culture. He even requested that the platforms wait 6 months to display his movie, but they denied.
His position is at a moment when the world is evolving, especially following the pandemic. People are accustomed to watching on TV or their phone nowadays when they are alone. The thing is that Aamir wants to remind everyone about the pleasure of watching movies in a cinema together with people, and he wants to protect that experience for future generations.
Also, read
