Rushad Rana: “With Everyone Back to Work, OTT Content Consumption Has Dropped”

Actor Rushad Rana, who was last seen in Anupamaa and Mehendi Wala Ghar and recently appeared in the movie Ulajh starring Janhvi Kapoor, says that people are hard-pressed for time now that the pandemic is behind us. He believes this is why audiences are watching less content on OTT platforms.

“There are a lot of OTT shows being made now, but not as much content is being consumed by audiences because times have changed, and people have gone back to work. The OTT boom happened during the first lockdown when everyone was at home and had nothing better to do than to watch content on their screens. So, I think that gave a boost to OTT platforms. But now that everyone is back to work, there’s a lot of content available, and people are getting lost as to what to watch, where to watch, and when to watch. I think people don’t have that much time to watch so much content, which is being delivered to them at the moment,” he says.

Rana also notes that most OTT projects used to feature bold content, but this is slowly changing. “I think bold content was a lot more prevalent when the OTT boom happened. Now, I think things are changing. From what I see and understand, bold content is a little censored. Earlier, they were showing a lot, but now it’s more controlled. I think they’ve realized that if they want families to come together and watch shows, they obviously can’t have too much bold content. There’s also a division of audiences; people who want that kind of content will go to those shows.”

Ultimately, Rushad believes that while OTT platforms continue to produce content in large volumes, people’s lives have changed, and they don’t have the same amount of time to devote to watching it as they did during lockdowns and work-from-home schedules.