Rohit Bose Roy: OTT does not lean towards the quintessential stars or insiders; it gives opportunity to whoever suits the part

All praises for the web, Rohit Bose Roy says the space is liberating in the way it has opened doors for actors like him. Happy with the response his latest OTT show has been receiving, Roy harps on the fact that web has sort of diminished the star-actor divide and the limelight is only on capable performers.

“I would definitely say that OTT has opened a much broader scope for an actor like me. Let’s face it, I won’t be headlining a film any time soon but I could headline line this series, Paper. Web has given a great scope and freedom to dabble into an interesting subject (stamp paper scam) and character, which normally I wouldn’t be able to tell on TV or cinema,” he says.

Talking about the “democratic” functioning of the web, Roy shares how unlike films, “OTT doesn’t lean towards quintessential stars or insiders”.

“OTT gives opportunity to those who suit the role, it doesn’t see how big or small the actor is. However you can’t discount the fact that if you’re a star you come with an added viewer base. And that’ll always be there. But then OTT is also creating new fan base and giving them an opportunity to rediscover actors,” he says adding that the space doesn’t typecast performers.

Roy cites the example of his friend and colleague Bobby Deol to elucidate his point. He says Deol had done big films and mostly lead roles, but in between he wasn’t getting good offers. Then a show like Ashram changed things for him. So OTT in a way has restarted careers too.

“Actors are hungry for that one great role to come their way. Look at my friend Bobby Deol, people who didn’t believe in him must be regretting it right now,” says the actor, who earlier worked in Vikram Bhatt’s web project Memories.

With so many stars venturing into web, many feel it might soon lead to star domination.

Reacting, Roy adds, “Saif Ali Khan was the one the first actors to do a Sacred Games and he did a brilliant job. He was playing a character. On web, focus is on stories and characters and not on who’s playing the part. No watches show because it has a star in it. So I don’t think their entry would upset the apple cart or screw the equation. Also, with the abundance of work there’s opportunity for all.”

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Author tweets @Shreya_MJ