OTT is not replacing cinema, says Udhayanidhi Stalin

OTT (the over-the-top platform) was not replacing cinema and was expanding the universe of cinema, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said in Chennai on Tuesday. “It is creating space for new kinds of stories, formats and voices.”

Launching JioHotStar’s “South Unbound”, he said: “And today, when we speak of OTT and digital innovation, Tamil Nadu proudly remembers that it was our very own [actor and Rajya Sabha MP Kamal Haasan] Kamal sir, who made the pioneering attempt in 2012 to release his film directly to home for first time.”

Recalling Chennai was the creative capital of the film industry for all the Southern states, he underlined, not just Tamil films, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films were also made in Chennai.

Underlining that art has played a very powerful role in shaping the socio-political landscape of Tamil Nadu and the Southern states even now, he said: “We must speak of our very own Dravidian movement. This Dravidian movement continues to be the driving force behind our government, especially today.”

The Dravidian movement was the first in India to show that art could liberate, cinema could educate, and entertainment could guide our society forward, he said. “We turned screens into classrooms. We turned drama into dialogue. We turned stories into social change. Our leaders, Perarignar [late leader C.N. Annadurai] Anna and around Dr. Kalaignar [late DMK leader M. Karunanidhi] were true trendsetters for Tamil cinema.”

Observing that South India’s contribution has set a creative benchmark for the country, he said: “We all know that OTT platforms have become the new avenue right now for Southern storytellers.” OTT has taken the cinema to each and every house, he said.

The DMK government was committed to building a strong creative economy, he said and recalled his government’s announcement to establish a state-of-the-art global film city in Chennai.