THE RISE OF WEB ENTERTAINMENT

I do not oppose all TV shows. But, if you are a huge fan of any of the TV show, then this might be a little harsh for you. It is not like I have never watched a single daily soap. I have also been victimized by this endless trap many times. The reason for this was sometimes my mom and many times cute actresses in the serials. Indian soaps think they are a reflection of the society. However, they fail to be one in all aspects. They are always as fresh and young as they were when they were a teenager. Right from the great-grandmother to her youngest grandchild, everyone looks of the same age. Did someone die? No worries, they’ll come back in a few episodes as a completely changed person because of the plastic surgery. Right from skin tone, height, weight and even the voice is different. Haven’t met one person who changed so much after plastic surgery. Almost all families live in palaces. At least 10 rooms. They are dressed heavily all the time. But you never know what work they do. Mostly it’s the term “business” that is used to cover up. Someone, please teach me the tricks of that “business”.

I can rant about the impracticality all day but long story short “young generation needs more than expensive sets and budget to keep them engaged, they need some facts or something that they can relate with, they want no time frames to follow, no censorship issues, and women turning into snakes”

Same goes for the Indian cinema! Thanks to censorship.

Cinema theatres and daily soaps are going to face some tough competition, as ‘appointment-viewing’ doesn’t appeal to the young generation anymore. People want to watch content as per their convenience and in their comfort zone!

First, bookshops disappeared, as online portals took over, then CD music sales shifted online, and now, it’s entertainment. We don’t need a magic ball to see that web is the future!

I think this is high time for TV serials to upgrade themselves. Because, on the other hand, web series are creating magic. They have covered almost all the genres and revolutionary topics which can give us some kind of message. Due to which, today’s practical young generation has chosen this non-daily but still scheduled and sensible path to follow.

Edgy and fresh, Web series, which have made their mark in India, break free from staid television formats. The very dramatic web entertainment is evolving every day. It’s quite new in India and competition is high, yet there is room for everyone. There is a new world beyond TV and cinemas now, where consumers can discover a whole buffet of entertainment let it be fiction, biography, documentary, comedy and what not! It is a world where you don’t have to wait for a shows next episode. It’s binge watch revolution people!

What makes web entertainment revolutionary is the ease of availability. Whether stuck in traffic, riding the Metro or lazing at home, the availability of quality content at the click of a button is what’s driving the online revolution. The DIGITALISATION plays the most crucial role. Close to 70 percent of the Indian population is young, and a bulk of them is online. Except for live events and sports, the audience that is online is not really interested in TV anymore.

Plus, cheaper data costs have become a boon for everyone. As per Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends 2017 analysis, in March 2014, the average cost of 1 GB data in India was rs.309. Just three years down the line, it’s rs.133.5. The launch of mobile network operator Jio by Reliance Jio Infocomm has also brought the rates further down to rs.11.94 per 1 GB.

Two years ago, the web series first made its mark in India with a handful of shows. TVF’s Pitchers and Permanent Roommates (PR), and ScoopWhoop’s Baked were among the early success stories. Due to The extreme rise in popularity, Beyond the bigger banners and known faces, the web series started gaining funding from leading brands. While Ola, the radio cab app, was the title sponsor for Permanent Roommates’ second season, TVF’s first big-budget series, Tripling, was used by Tata to sell its new car, Tiago. Brand tie-ups have been a major source of income for web series, and in-story product placement is not unheard of.

Each series has a different concept which only proves that there is a space for creativity to be unleashed — unrestrained. So many new small, unheard faces started rising with their own web series which was distributed independently using online portals like YouTube. It’s killing nepotism to some extent and giving chance to new actors.

Since then, sensing business potential, and attention from a young audience, big production platforms like Hotstar, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and BIGFlix made an entry into the Indian entertainment market. In fact, even new-age televisions sensed the change in winds and they started coming with these apps preinstalled.

Sensing the big business, platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime have gone beyond merely providing popular international TV shows and movies to their subscribers. They started creating original, Indianised series like the most famous Sacred Games and Mirzapur. Seeing the uprise, many huge faces of Bollywood and YouTube like Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte and many other unnamed, also big Bollywood production houses like Y-RAJ productions started tie-ups with them.

Amazon Prime began promoting serialized acts and shows from popular stand-up comedians across the country. Comedians like Zakhir Khan, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Abish Mathew, and Kanan Gill, and shot to fame through video recordings of their stand-up comedy acts that were uploaded on YouTube. So this opened doors for the young and newly started YouTubers to get the ticket of a joy ride with online bigger platforms.

Netflix has tied up with telecom operators such as Airtel, Videocon, and Vodafone in an effort to capture the market. They started free trials with a vast diversity of international and Indian shows and movies.

These platforms also know and respect the value of Indian cinema, so they are doing hard buying movies rights and releasing movies asap on their platforms. Netflix has also signed a deal with actor Shah Rukh Khan’s production company Red Chillies Entertainment for his existing, as well as upcoming titles. Amazon Prime Video digitally premiered the Telugu blockbuster, Ninnu Kori, ahead of its TV release. It has also signed a five-year deal with Salman Khan’s production house.

So the thing is all these new upcoming platforms and massive investments are also creating opportunities for let it is famous or new content creators. Till day web entertainment is mostly unexplored and has a bright future with respect to content creation. The main reason why web series and shows are famous because most of them were started by common people for common people. A series can be made even with a phone’s camera, the only thing that you need is imagination and creativity.

Also on the end note, I want to add that we usually celebrate the success stories. But, we shouldn’t forget that for every video that goes viral, there are hundreds more that go unwatched.

“India is a country of lazy, inactive and ungrateful audiences. They will waste Rs. 900 on a bad Bollywood film in the theatre, but if you give them something good for free, they won’t even hit the subscribe button,” says Arunab which is somewhat right, all I wish is that we should respect the creators and try to support the change!

-ABHINAV

YOUNG ENGINE