‘OTT has led to a greater representation of real characters’

Lara Dutta made her streaming debut in 2020 with the action-comedy series ‘Hundred’. Four years later, the actor has another show, ‘Ranneeti: Balakot and Beyond’, streaming on an OTT platform.

Having spent close to half a decade in the streaming medium, the actor shared insights regarding OTT.

Lara Dutta said that the streaming medium today is growing tremendously, with many platforms coming into the picture. With numerous platforms available, there are greater avenues to explore different characters. She emphasised that OTT inspires a greater representation of characters, particularly bringing ‘real’ characters to the forefront.

Elaborating on this, the actor told a leading media house, “The wonderful thing about OTT is that because there are so many platforms, you are addressing different segments of an audience. You have to create content that speaks to all of them.”

“It has resulted in not just a greater representation of characters from different walks of life but also ones that are ‘real’. OTT is a complete game-changer and has tremendous growth in the future,” she added.

Lara also spoke about her character in ‘Ranneeti: Balakot and Beyond’, describing her as a lone wolf - someone who is ready to give her all for the country.

“Manisha doesn’t have a military background, but there are some similarities between us. I think the script is your starting point for a character. Manisha is a lone wolf and she’s very straightforward. It was interesting and fascinating to build out this kind of character for me. She’s kind of careless about people and stuff, but when it comes to the country, she’s ready to give everything,” she stated.

She added, “My approach to the character is to flesh out what you have never seen in the character, like the background story of the character. To create a character like Manisha Sehgal, I prepared from scratch.”