Hansal Mehta, who directed Pratik Gandhi in Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, says, “We (filmmakers) have always wanted to cast the right person for our shows/films, and because of OTT we now have an open field. Pratik was cast because he’s a terrific actor who also happened to be a Gujarati (like the character he played). Even The Family Man 2 used so many actors from the South film industries, which gave the narrative an edge. Sacred Games also used so many Marathi industry actors. It’s a great trend.”

Filmmakers believe that casting regional actors in OTT series basis their talent has been possible as there’s no pressure to cater to the box-office. Says Raj Nidimoru (of Raj & DK, creators of The Family Man), “Our series gave us the freedom to go beyond language. Priyamani, Samantha and Neeraj Madhav have been reintroduced to Indian audiences thanks to Hindi OTT. Films have certain restrictions in terms of box-office that OTT doesn’t, no one has to speak Hindi for the sake of it. Almost 50% of The Family Man 2 was in Tamil, but that didn’t hamper the series. Actors can express themselves the best when they get to be themselves and this will lead to people opening up to more talent from across India in the Hindi OTT space. ”

Actors from regional industries may enjoy demi-god like stature that their theatrical releases bring them, but that hasn’t stopped them from taking the Hindi OTT route. Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who debuted in the Hindi web space this year, says, “As an actress, I want to push boundaries. Raji (her character in The Family Man) allowed me to explore a new dimension and I wanted to take this risk for my growth. This decision paid off and helped me get closer to a much wider audience and opened up new avenues.”

Venturing into Hindi OTT space has earned them a new fanbase, who are watching the actor’s regional content as well. Says Parambrata Chatterjee, “Many people have told me that after having watched my Hindi web shows, they are now watching my Bengali films with subtitles. This synergy allows actors from language industries to explore the Hindi content space.”

For regional actors, the medium doesn’t matter since the work culture is almost similar. Roshan Mathew adds, “It’s heartening that casting agents are now looking at actors from various regional industries for Hindi web shows. Now that Malayalam cinema has pan-India acceptance, actors from our industry are taken seriously. Having lived in Mumbai for several years, I am comfortable with Hindi and familiar with the shooting process. When I did Anurag (Kashyap) sir’s Choked, it did not feel any different than working in a Malayalam film.”

Most regional actors believe that since the core audience has shifted loyalty to OTT, the platform has become more important. Paoli Dam (below) says, “OTT is proving to be a gamechanger for regional actors — look how things turned out for Pratik Gandhi after Scam 1992. Audiences now want content-rich work and OTT is providing that, and us actors the scope to experiment with our craft.”

Amruta Subhash feels the amalgamation of industries “has made us do some out of the box work. Collaborations are leading to challenging creative opportunities.”

The year 2022 will continue to have more regional heavyweights in the OTT space. Frontlining this trend will be Rana Daggubati set to star in a web original titled Rana Naidu alongside uncle and veteran actor Daggubati Venkatesh; Vijay Sethupathi in Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK’s next, tentatively titled show, Fake with Regina Cassandra (who also has Project Hawk and Rocket Boys in the kitty), Prithviraj Sukumaran is doing a Hindi web show directed by him, Trisha will appear in a Telugu show Brinda, to be dubbed in Hindi and Shrenu Parikh will star in Damaged 3.

Says Rana, “I was always interested in doing a web show, but didn’t know how to go about it or what story to tell. When I was offered the adaptation of Ray Donovan, I jumped at the chance. From the time I became an actor, I knew that there will be some story that Venky and I will tell together, something that’s not cliched but cool. This is going to be special.”

Regina Cassandra, who is set to mark her debut in Hindi OTT in 2022 with a slew of web shows, says, “With Hindi OTT shows, the makers have to reach out to a wider audience, so regional actors are courted by showrunners. It’s business at the end of the day. Thanks to OTT, there is no north-south divide anymore.”

— Inputs by Suhas Yellapantula, Rachana Dubey, Renuka Vyavahare, Anna Mathews, Shruti Jambhekar, Shreyanka Mazumdar and M Suganth