Rakshit Shetty’s revelation that there are “no takers” for his Kannada web series Ekam has stunned audiences and Kannada industry insiders alike. On June 17, the actor-filmmaker, who is a National Film Award recipient, wrote on X that the search for a platform has gone on for two years now. Shetty, who, in 2022 and 2023, has had blockbusters such as 777 Charlie (2022), Sapta Saagaradaache Ello (Side A & Side B), also said Ekam will now release on an independent platform.

It’s a baffling disclosure, especially considering that the Kirik Party (2016) star has always been known for his content-driven films and has had success after success since his debut with Nam Areal Ond Dina (2010). Sapta Saagaradaache Ello director Hemanth Rao says, “Films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam do equally good business in Karnataka. That’s not the case in any other southern Indian state.”

Explaining how this phenomenon has also skewed business, he notes: “The local language has taken a back-seat, unfortunately, and it is reflective in terms of business. So, when an OTT giant picks up, say, a Telugu film, they will possibly see that the subscriptions in Bangalore/Karnataka are only increasing. So, the OTT-content buying patterns have completely changed.”

Vikrant Rona (2022) director Anup Bhandari attributes the OTT platforms’ reluctance about Kannada content to “confusion about how some of the previous films have fared”. Bhandari elaborates, “Before 2022, there was reluctance in buying Kannada content that did not have a star. But unlike 2022, 2023 wasn’t such a good year for the industry, and the confidence was lost. We need to create more content that is stronger because the kind of films that people watch on the web and the kind that are made for mass consumption are quite different.”

Rao points out that the lack of representation which could form a bridge between the industry and OTT platforms, is to blame, too. “Within every OTT platform, there will be somebody who is in charge of an industry, with a good know-how dictated by economics and viewing patterns. So, the onus and responsibility are on the makers, too. The stakes have got higher for the Kannada film industry. If you keep making fantastic films, no one is going to walk away because you are showing that there is business,” Rao wraps up.

I have to agree that we have a shortage of writers and directors in the Kannada industry right now. We need to create more content that is stronger because the kind of films that people watch on the web and the kind that are made for mass consumption are quite different. The Malayalam industry has fared well in this aspect. Of late, they have been making small films that are making it really big, but this did not happen overnight. It probably started somewhere in early 2010s — the foundation was laid much earlier because they had prepared their audience for sensible movies from a very long time ago. This was there in Kannada cinema, too, at one point. As content makers, you need to gain the trust of the audience — which is what we need to do as Kannada filmmakers, on a continuous basis. We can’t have one good year and then have a bad phase and then come back a year later.

-Anup Bhandari

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I know for a fact that the Kannada industry doesn’t have good representation within OTT platforms and that they don’t understand our industry. They don’t know who is who. Like in the way they understand the Telugu or Tamil market, they should have somebody local who knows who is doing good work here. It’s extremely heartbreaking as somebody who is a representative of the Kannada film industry. We have a population of six crore people in Karnataka. What is shocking is that when you log into this one particular OTT platform, the top 10 films that they have ranked, even today, are all dubbed films that are non-original Kannada projects! And they don’t want to acquire new films. We have tried multiple times. In fact, I have tried multiple times. I have a film that is ready, but OTTs are not ready to pick it up.

- Hemanth Rao