Farah Khan |
At the recently held 10-day festival on Airbnb aimed at bringing India’s famed film industry to life, top talent like Farah Khan, Vicky Ratnani and Shilpa Rao were some of the insiders who spoke to guests from across the globe. A ponytail behind the velvet rope of a Bollywood set.
Airbnb’s USP of offering guests a unique and authentic experience ensured that ‘Bollywood Insiders’ gave people the opportunity to interact with larger-than-life personalities.
IANSlife spoke to filmmaker Farah Khan on the sidelines of her online experience to know more:
Q: Everyone misses the big screen and when theaters have opened, fear among audiences and filmmakers has put most big-ticket films on hold?
A: As the situation is getting a little better, we still need to follow the protocol and ensure that we are not violating the norms both on-set and off-set.
The experience of watching a movie in the theater is absolutely incomparable and memorable. However, it is important for us as filmmakers to base our decisions on understanding the situation in the country.
Q: A gap of two years has given OTT an opportunity to really grab a bigger share of the pie. The viewership might not be the same as before?
A: Undoubtedly OTT has picked up its pace due to the lockdown and restrictions. We have seen some amazing and budding filmmakers coming up with such quality and masterpieces. I am excited to see how the OTT trend is going to develop further.
Q: Several surveys show that audiences feel that the quality of content on OTT is better than that of cinema. Small budgets and unique stories have made their way into the limelight. What’s your take?
A: Content is an ever-growing landscape and keeps on evolving with the preferences of the audience. The OTT landscape has certainly witnessed a significant transformation in the last few years and it is exciting to see emerging creators with unique and off-beat story lines.
However, I firmly believe that both cinema and OTT have room to flourish in a country like India, each with its own diverse audience.
Q: Your experience with Airbnb?
A: I’ve always been an Airbnb user, which is one of my options when I travel. I have collaborated with the brand in the past, however this was the first time I was hosting an online experience on the platform and I was very excited about it.
Bollywood has always been my first love ever since I was a little girl and I was thrilled to be bringing my experience in the industry to Airbnb guests around the world.
The online experience I hosted as part of Bollywood Insiders is called ‘Behind the Lens’. Throughout this experience, I helped guests understand what makes an actor special, how to get into a character, how to deliver their lines with maximum impact for their first Bollywood audition and much more. .
I helped guests sharpen their skills, and ‘speed mentored’ them so they would be ready for the audition routine! Through the experience, my guests got the chance to act on some of their favorite Bollywood dialogues for me.
My mantra in life is to have fun no matter what you are doing and this is the spirit I bring to my online experience on Airbnb. Throughout the experience, guests asked me as many questions as they have – whether it was about directing, the process I follow to conceptualize characters or what I look for when conducting auditions. This was not a time for learning and fun combined!
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