EXCLUSIVE: Shreyas Talpade opens up on his OTT platform Nine Rasa

Bollywood actor Shreyas Talpade recently launched a unique OTT platform for theatre. His app Nine Rasa is an initiative to help the theatre community during these difficult times. In an exclusive interview with Republic World, Shreyas talked about how he came up with the concept of 9 Rasa. He also spoke about the emergence of OTT platforms and the need for them. 

Shreyas Talpade on his new OTT platform Nine Rasa 

Shreyas Talpade launched Nine Rasa on April 9, 2021. He shared that the concept of this new venture came up during the COVID-19 lockdown. Shreyas added, "The whole intention with which Nine Rasa was started was to help the theatre community who were facing a lot of problems during the lockdown." While they were thinking of this new platform, they realised that if they offered theatre artists money, it would only suffice them during the lockdown. However, if they offered them work, that would help them in future. "We thought of doing something which was a little more concrete and long-lasting which would help not just the actors but also the technicians," said Shreyas. 

The new OTT platform 9 Rasa will feature have full length plays, one-act plays, skits, stand up, story reading and poetry reading. It is the first-ever Indian app that is completely dedicated to stage performances. The content created is in several languages including Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, English, Bengali.

Shreyas Talpade on the emergence of OTT platforms 

Shreyas called OTT platforms a boon for the audience and the creators at the same time. There are certain shows which cannot be made into films and cannot be aired on television either. He added, "So, you need to have something in between. OTT for me is a great combination between films and theatre. In theatre, we have worked on some incredible subjects on stage as people who watch theatre always want to see something new which is out of the box." On these platforms, filmmakers can experiment with topics that the audience have always wanted to talk about. "You’ll realize that there are certain OTT films that are huge hits today but would probably not do good at the box office if released in theatres," he added. 

Shreyas on getting out of his comfort zone to launch a new platform

Shreyas has worked in several plays for over 15-18 years. He revealed that he has immense love for theatre and wanted to give back to the theatre community. He added, "When the opportunity came, I felt that if this is what it takes to give back to theatre, I would want to dive in. There wasn’t much of thought that went into it." Shreyas has often taken impulsive decisions when it comes to signing films and shows. According to him, overthinking kills spontaneity. So he believes in the theory that if you’re doing something right with the right intentions then nothing can stop it. He also quoted a popular dialogue from Om Shanti Om, "Kisi cheez ko agar shiddat se chaaho toh puri kaaynat tumhe usseh milane ke saajish me lag jaati hai".

Shreyas Talpade's movies and plays 

Shreyas Talpade's plays like Typecast and Toui Toui garnered him immense popularity in the theatre scene. His films like Pachadlela, Iqbal, Dor, Apna Sapna Money Money, Dashavatar and Housefull 2 were also widely loved by the audience. Shreyas Talpade's movies in 2021 which will soon premiere include Love You Shankar by Rajiv Ruia, Mannu aur Munni ki Shaadi and Sarkar Ke Seva Main. 

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