The India Web Fest Season 6 assembled some of the most prolific dignitaries coming in and talking about an array of topics that propel the entertainment space in the digital ecosystem.

One such topic that was being discussed was the idea of progressive content on OTT and how women are leading the charge. The respective topic had Ms Rakul Preet Singh coming in to talk about and give her take where it was moderated by the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of IWMBuzz, Mr Siddhartha Laik.

Here are some excerpts from the conversation-

Siddhartha: The topic is progressive content on OTT and women leading the charge. I’d like to begin by asking what you feel is actually ‘progressive’ when you use the term in its true sense. I know you have done a wonderful project called Chhatriwali and you won an award for the same at our awards as well. But when I ask you, how do you define the term ‘progressive content’?

Rakul: Progressive can mean different things for different people, but I feel like just having the ability to talk about taboo subjects like you mentioned in Chhatriwali or even one of my other films, Doctor G, which was about the whole gynaecology aspect. I feel anything that could be taboo, that’s a tough conversation to have in the world that we live in or breaking barriers. Even when you say women leading a particular script or hard-hitting stories, realistic stories, or biopics—everything is progressive when you’re telling a story that needs to be told, which is not just fantasy but also a little hard-hitting. I think that, for me, is progressive: showing you a mirror of the world we live in.

Siddhartha: So, OTT in India has seen a huge rise. It has opened opportunities in the country for artists across religions, genres etc. Please tell me, do you believe that it is a hype that good artists are there and it is creating a new window for new talent to come in or is it the case of a strong star being cast in a project, it helps in getting eyeballs immediately?

Rakul: There’s no one answer to that. I feel as technology evolves, when consumption patterns change, our tastes change. You know, when there was just radio and television came in, people thought radio was going to die, but it sustained. Just the mode of consuming radio is different—you know, all of us listen to radio in our cars. So I feel like this is a transitioning phase that we’re all going through. I think both have their advantages.

I love OTT because, as you said, it gives so many more actors a chance—a platform to showcase their talent. There are so many more scripts. How many films would you make in a year, right? And now there are so many shows and films, just that entire wide range of platforms that’s available for all these budding actors, and again, hard-hitting and progressive stories with challenging roles in that. So I feel it’s got this whole new world that we’ve opened up to.

Having said that, I think the magic of cinema will always live. I mean, I’m an actor, and I live, breathe, and dream cinema, and I love watching films in theatres, and I think nothing can take away that joy. But I feel both will coexist beautifully. I guess the kinds of scripts being made are going to be challenged, and writing will get better. So I think it’s going to be a healthy competition, which is great for everyone in the industry because it’ll push us to do better.

Siddhartha: Absolutely right. I think balance is important. So, especially when Chhatriwaali was offered to you; you are a mainstream actress and the topic is bold and almost borderline taboo but you decided to do it and it came out wonderfully well. So when it came to you, did you have a question – should I do it or not? Is it going to impact my mainstream image etc?

Rakul: I won’t lie, I did have a discussion in my own head about the pros and cons, but I loved the script. At the end of the day, I feel that the conviction the script had to offer was compelling. If, as an actor, I can’t experiment, then there’s no point in just dancing around the trees. I love commercial films, but at some point, you also want to do meaningful films.

I’ll take this opportunity to share with you: that when Chhatriwali was released, there were inbox messages on my social media from women who couldn’t have this conversation with their partners. They just showed them the film, and I received thank-you messages. I remember one very clearly, where a girl said she’d been trying to tell her husband the same thing for years, and she finally showed him the movie. Unfortunately, in the society we live in, sex education is taboo. We have sex education in schools, but even when we were in school, we would be like, “We don’t want to attend that class.” All of us giggled because we’d made it such a big deal. But this is the natural biology of our bodies, and the more we educate the youth, the more we educate women, the better it is for their health.

So, in a day, I thought, “No, you know what, Raoul, you’ve got to do this.” It was very tastefully done, and I think there’s always a way to present taboo subjects. Chhatriwali, for instance, was a very family-driven film because it had the atmosphere of a father, and mother—it was entertaining and engaging, and it could be watched by a family. Nothing was double-meaning in the film. I think the way you present a taboo subject is also very important. So, for me, it was a go-ahead within the first one or two days of listening to the script, and I’m so glad it was so well received.

Watch the video below-