Rohan Sippy: Comedy is under-represented on OTT platforms in India

Filmmaker Rohan Sippy has been quite active on the OTT front. After creating the Raveena Tandon-starrer Aranyak, and directing the recent series Mithya with Huma Qureshi, he has a comedy show in the pipeline next.

Sippy admits that the digital format is his focus now. “OTT is something I have been working in for the last four-five years, I don’t think that will change. I keep looking for opportunities. The scenario was uncertain until now due to Covid, for films to release theatrically, some even released directly on web,” he says.

The 51-year-old adds, “Individually, definitely there’s more likelihood that OTT is where I will be spending more time working.”

He points out that while variety is the second name of web, there are certain genres that get neglected despite their popularity.

“There is a lot more mainstream content that will come in now. Comedy is so under-represented on OTT. If you turn these platforms on, half of the trending shows will be sitcoms like Seinfeld, The Big Bang Theory, it is such a huge part of consumption. I hope we get there. It is likely to be the trend, hoping it is,” explains Sippy.

In fact, the filmmaker is of the opinion that comedy is probably the only genre with the most repeat value.

“People might not see a mystery or thriller multiple times, but I know people who watched Indian or overseas comedy shows 10 times, almost 100 episodes. Comedy has that kind of shelf life,” he asserts.

Talking about hi future projects, he shares that he has collaborated with Charudutt Acharya,writer of Aranyak, for the comedy show. “It will be a bit more humorous family drama.I have a couple of directing assignments as well, but I can’t talk in advance. They will be shows of different genres,” Sippy concludes.