Foraying into the digital world with Breathe -  Into The Shadows, Abhishek Bachchan on how the lack of box-office pressure makes it an artiste-friendly medium
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; July 2, 2020)

The gripping trailer of Breathe -  Into The Shadows only proves what we knew all this while — Abhishek Bachchan, who returned to the big screen with Manmarziyaan (2018) after a two-year hiatus, will not settle for the ordinary in his second innings. The actor is intrigued as well as excited as he forays into the digital world with the Amazon Prime Video series.

Though he is headlining the sophomore season of the thriller, Bachchan says he walked into the project with a clean slate. "I loved the first episode of the first season. I purposely didn't watch the rest of the edition because I didn't want to be influenced by it. Mayank [Sharma, creator-director] has incorporated some of his learnings from the first season into this one," says the actor, who plays a parent searching for his missing child

In the cut-throat competitive world of films, Friday box-office numbers create an undue pressure on actors. In contrast, the digital world is considered an artiste-friendly medium, allowing actors to focus solely on their craft. "There is less judgment here than in cinema. That said, the pressure to perform still exists because people will judge your work — be it the social media users or the critics. There will be a discussion on whether they like the show and your performance. But, the pressure is less because there is no [discussion on] box-office figures."

With several films being web-bound, the dialogue around theatres losing their charm has intensified. However, Bachchan believes the advent of OTT has raised the bar. "The past two years have been a brilliant time for cinema, too. The streaming services are pushing filmmakers to up their game. However, the experience of going to a movie hall cannot be matched by an OTT platform."