Exclusive! Krishna Bhatt: OTT was free of censorship for long so it was only a matter of time before it was attacked

Krishna Bhatt is currently making headlines for her show Sanak: Ek Junoon. The filmmaker, who comes from the Bhatt camp, explains why censorship is important on OTT.

Talking to OTTplay, she shared a not-at-all surprised statement - that it was only a matter of time before OTT was attacked. OTT censorship has been a matter of debate since a long time and it is only a matter of time before it makes headlines again. It is what even Krishna believes.

Excerpts from the interview...

The story of Sanak isn't exactly new. It has been explored many times. We saw it in Inkaar and even Citylights way back. So what different does this series bring to the table?

Sanak is very different because it doesn't just deal with a power-drunk person who sacrifices everything for his dreams. It's an addiction to power, getting to the top, dreams in place, bigger house, money and fame. It is something we can all relate to. For that, this guy is willing to sacrifice his marriage. He is willing to let his wife be with someone to secure his job. That backfires very badly and he almost loses his wife. Then they come back together. In that way, Sanak is completely different from the film you have mentioned. It is what draws me to the project. We all fly like a bee to honey with a razor blade, in today's times. That's what the show is about. He, too, is flying towards a honey with a razor blade and thus, will pay the price of his ambition.

Maya and Twisted are a completely different world than Sanak. Where and when did the idea of the web series pop?

We had decided that taboo topics are something that nobody talks about. A pricetag to your dream is easy to talk about. What the pricetag is, is not something that people talk about. How to deal with the pricetag and come back together after that, is what drew me to the series.

How did Rohit Roy and Aindrita Ray come on board? Was Ronit Roy also an option?

Rohit was never option number two. He and Aindrita were the first choice and the perfect fit. Nobody could have done it better. We discussed the story on call. They were a little apprehensive about the intimate scenes but trusted me. With that, it was on floors.

It has been three years since you took up direction majorly. I say this because I know you did a project in 2016 but that was the only project you worked on as a director. Mainly, you started working since 2018. So what have you learn while working on so many web series?

I understood that I had to get better with every web series. With the pandemic, I realized that web is not the next big but the only big thing right now. Digital is the next big thing and it is here to stay. What I've realized is that if people aren't engrossed in the first three seconds, they will watch something else. With films, people pay Rs. 600 to watch one film but with OTT, they don't have that kind of patience.

While Bhatt camp has introduced new faces in films, still people want to see big stars on screen. On the other hand, people have accepted all kinds of actors on OTT. Do you think the medium has brought a change in perspective, that now people have become more accepting of actors? Also, do you agree that OTT has provided more work to the actors?

There were a lot of films that didn't have stars and did very well. A lot of my father's and Mahesh uncle's films are in question. OTT has opened up an entire new world. It has become about acting. It's not about star power. I respect how stars pull in million people to theatres and that's astonishing. What OTT has done is, it made stories that powerful. It made stories into stars. It is something that is beautiful.

You have mainly worked in web series. Any plans of exploring films?

I do plan to but I'll be waiting for that.

Bhatt introduced the world of lust and basically a new world to OTT with Twisted. Now with the debate on OTT censorship, they might not be able to express as much as they wish to. What do you think - should there be censorship on OTT?

When we had censorship in films, even then we managed to make them work. We can manage to do it with OTT also. So we will figure out anything that comes our way. If it doesn't come, great. Censorship is there everywhere. Even books are censored. OTT was free of censorship for a long time so it was only a matter of time before that was also attacked. A lot of people exploit freedom. Censorship only comes into play when freedom is exploited.

Do we see a new season of Twisted after 3?

There is no update on that yet. You go watch Sanak.

What are your upcoming projects?

I'm producing Cold for my father. I worked on a lot of writing actually. There's a film that I plan to direct but I want to talk about it later.