OTT has not taken over the market share of TV: 'Balika Vadhu' fame Avinash Mukherjee

Actor Avinash Mukherjee, who rose to fame at an early age playing young Jagya in the show Balika Vadhu, feels that no matter how popular OTT gets, it will never overpower the charisma of television.

Speaking to IANS, Avinash says: "India has a huge population and television is for an audience that has been there since the last 20 years. OTT has not taken over the market share of television. It has increased it. It has created a new market of its own. Balika Vadhu in 2015-2016 was running in 27 countries simultaneously, in many dubbed languages -- Romania, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Russia, and in many parts of America and Europe. Right now, no show on OTT has received such a huge response. I am not saying that OTT will not receive such response, all I am trying to say is markets are different. Not only do we need more OTT platforms and content, but we also need more streams of content consumption."

After Balika Vadhu, the young actor was also seen in the shows Sanskaar: Dharohar Apnon Ki, Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar and Shakti: Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki. While many believe that acting is acting, irrespective of the medium, the actor says that is not true.

"I know some actors say acting is acting, be it any medium. But I believe that actors have the paramount responsibility of telling a story and doing justice to it. For the audience, we are not performing because we are actors. We are performing because we have been chosen to deliver a story. If you see, OTT is mainly consumed on a mobile device. Television is mainly consumed through a small screen. Theatre is consumed by a live audience, while films are consumed on a big screen. So while the commitment to the craft doesn't change, the nuances change, to fit the medium," he says.

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