OTT gave work to a lot of people, but it has gone the television way now: Rajit Kapur

Be it films like The Making of the Mahatma, timeless plays like Love Letters and Class of 84, or the unforgettable portrayal of Byomkesh Bakshi on television, Rajit Kapur has proved his versatility as an actor time and again. Kapur, who has been part of acclaimed films like Mission Majnu, Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, Uri: The Surgical Strike and Raazi in recent times, was in Ahmedabad recently to attend the Karnavati Literature and Film Festival 2023 as a speaker. He told us, “I have always loved interacting with students and so, I was eagerly looking forward to this fest. For me, it is very important to know what young minds think and feel.” He added, “I have been to Ahmedabad and Vadodara for my plays and both the cities have a good theatre audience. However, I feel that the audience in Vadodara is far more discerning, critical and aware about what they are watching.” Excerpts from a quick chat:

‘The OTT bubble has started to burst’

When the OTT boom started in India, there was a lot of focus on content and script. One great thing that has happened is that thanks to OTT, logon ko bahot kaam mila hai, be it writers, directors, technicians, or actors. But unfortunately, OTT has gone the television way now and the bubble has started to burst. Ab OTT pe thriller type, murder mysteries jyaada aa rahi hain.

‘Theatre will continue to grow; it won’t go down’

Theatre has an important role to play in this fast-paced age of technology. Today, there is a need for human contact and interaction and theatre can bring it alive. The beauty of the medium is that it allows the audience to imagine and you can create anything. People often go back to theatre to unlearn or re-learn. The pandemic affected theatre groups adversely and even now, we are not back to normal. Things are not easy because rents of theatre spaces have gone up. However, it’s heartening to see that despite facing these challenges, theatre groups are finding new spaces to perform. If youngsters are really keen to do theatre, they will have to work their way through these challenges and find out about viable options. Be it finding new spaces, new actors or forming new groups, jugaad toh karna hi padega. In fact, small as well as large towns have created smaller spaces to perform. So far, this trend was less common in India. Warehouses and garages in Australia and Europe were commonly converted into theatre spaces. This trend will help theatre grow. Theatre will not go down.

‘Staying away from social media has been a conscious choice’

Not being active on social media and staying away from the medium has been a very conscious choice. Jitni energy hum social media pe lagate hain, woh apne kaam par lagayein toh chaar chand lag jayenge!