Jimmy Sheirgill: No one thinks of shooting small just because a film will go on an OTT platform

The screen for OTT projects might be much smaller as compared to a cinema hall, but that doesn’t affect the scale and scope of stories being churned out on the digital platforms, feels actor Jimmy Sheirgill.

In fact, the cinematic ethos are being imbibed in the essence of the web content, which is reflecting in the projects releasing in the space.

“I have always focused on character and the story, and never fell for the trappings of making a Bollywood film. But the thing is that, nobody is thinking that ‘This is going to come on OTT, so let me shoot it in a slightly smaller format or something’,” Sheirgill tells us.

The 50-year-old continues, “When people go and shoot films for a web platform, they don’t think that ‘Since, it is coming on a streaming platform let me make it small’. They try to make a film like a film. Similarly, people make a good web series like a good web series. They give it all the mounting that is required.”

And that is where lies the key to survival in this fast evolving world of showbiz. “It’s not going to survive with substandard stuff being presented to the people, where you want to make some quick buck. You have to be true to the art. You have to invest in the visuals, invest in the format, and show people the scale that your story requires,” opines the actor.

Sheirgill has always been one to reinvent be it by keeping a distance from masala films or ditching his lover boy image in the initial phase of his career. That’s what has led him to explore the OTT space as well, with projects such as Your Honor (2020) and Collar Bomb (2021).

“For instance, the film, Collar Bomb, which was also the first film I shot amid the pandemic after the first lockdown, if you see the visuals and everything else, it is shot cinematically, and in a big way,” he notes.

He also credits the pandemic for helping audiences discover a “different form” of stories, with the moment turning out to be an eye opener for them.

“I know so many people who were true to theatres, and were not big fans of web series. They started watching web shows, and went on to discover some Indian content as well. Now, they are big fans of that kind of work,” he says, adding, “I’m sure that once the theatres resume normalcy, they will also go back to and enjoy that as well”.