Indian OTT develops its star system

MUMBAI: Just a few weeks, ago that filmmaker Shekhar Kapur shared that he was impressed with the amazing new acting talents that the OTT space has been introducing to the world. The audience is with him on this.

IANS takes a look at actors who have grabbed maximum eyeballs in the digital space, emerging as the new OTT stars:

AMIT SADH

The former "Bigg Boss" contestant began as a television actor in 2002 and later entered Bollywood with "Phoonk 2" in 2010. "Kai Po Che" brought him fame and he went on to feature in films like "Sultan" and "Gold". Now, he is one of the favourites in the digital space as he got a thumbs up for his role as Inspector Kabir Sawant over two seasons of the web series "Breathe". He was then seen as an army officer in the web series "Avrodh: The Siege Within". For him, it seems like the thrill to do a web series is still on as he is currently giving his all for the upcoming web series, "Zidd".

PANKAJ TRIPATHI

The actor, who has a theatre background, is commonly seen in Bollywood films. Be it comic or villainous roles in films like "Stree", "Bareilly Ki Barfi" and "Gangs Of Wasseypur", he has done it all. But it's his role of power-hungry Guruji in the web series "Sacred Games" that made him talk of the town. The audience also loved him as gangster Kaleen Bhaiyya in the web series, "Mirzapur". He is now set to reprise the role in the season two of series. In the digital space, the "Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl" actor had also played a lawyer in "Criminal Justice".

AKSHAY OBEROI

The actor, who was seen in some interesting films like "Pizza" and "Gurgaon", is currently being lauded for playing a menacing dark character in the web series, "Flesh". The actor will also be seen as the main antagonist in the web series "7th Sense". The "Illegal" actor has another series titled "Magic" in his kitty, apart from films like "KTina" and the Hindi remake of "Thiruttu Payale 2".

NAMIT DAS

He was the cute college friend of Ranbir Kapoor in the film "Wake Up Sid", but it was the digital platform that brought out his versatility. Namit, who started his journey on TV with the show "Pancham", and got noticed with the TV series "Sumit Sambhal Lega", has utilised the web space to step out of 'the good guy' zone, notably the show, "Mafia". He played Jawahar, a character with grey shades with aplomb in the web series "Aarya", which starred Sushmita Sen. He also featured in the crime thriller of "Abhay".

TANUJ VIRWANI

He is one actor who has been shooting for web series back-to-back. After making his debut in 2013 with the film "Luv U Soniyo", he appeared in films like "Purani Jeans" and "One Night Stand". But Tanuj really became a household name once he ventured into OTT zone. The first season of the cricket-based drama "Inside Edge" released in 2017. Following this, he got flooded with digital projects and his presence in the web world has only grown. He got to play integral roles in "Code M" and "Poison". He also has "Kamathipura", "7th Sense" and "Line Of Fire". In addition, he has "Inside Edge 3" coming up, where he will be seen revisiting his character of a star cricketer from the earlier seasons.

RADHIKA APTE

Although she said that while choosing projects, the platform does not matter, she is famously called the "Netflix girl" by netizens due to her association with the OTT platform. Radhika, who has acted in films such as "Badlapur", "Phobia", "Pad Man" and "Andhadhun", had starred in three Netflix projects -- the anthology film "Lust Stories", the series "Sacred Games" and the limited series "Ghoul" -- all released in 2018. The platform's love for Radhika continued this year too. Before the release of her film, "Raat Akeli Hai" in July, Netflix India tweeted: "Crying happy tears because Radhika Apte is going to be in a Netflix original again."

MITHILA PALKAR

The actress with curly locks is popular for her lead role in the web series "Little Things". Now, known as a digital sensation, Mithila was also loved for featuring in the online video "Confusing Things A Girl Says". The "Karwaan" actress also starred in the series "Girl In The City".

SHWETA TRIPATHI SHARMA

She gained prominence for playing an upper caste girl in the 2015 film "Masaan". She went on to do a couple of films, but caught attention of fans with her act in the series "Mirzapur". In fact, she will be reprising her role as Golu in the much-awaited "Mirzapur 2". She also showed her versatility in web series like "Made in Heaven" and "The Gone Game", and the web movie, "Cargo".

RASIKA DUGAL

She has featured in critically acclaimed films such as "Qissa", "Manto" and "Hamid", but what made her a household name was the web series "Mirzapur", in which she played the bold Beena Tripathi. Her role of a young cop in "Delhi Crime" added to her popularity. She also starred in "Out Of Love", which revolved around marriage, infidelity and insecurity. She will soon start shooting for its second season.

SHRIYA PILGAONKAR

Shriya began her movie career with the 2013 Marathi film "Ekulti Ek". After "Un plus une", she was seen in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Fan". But it was her role of Sweety in the web series "Mirzapur" that put the spotlight on her. Her latest digital series "Crackdown" has just released, and she was more than happy to do it as it let her explore the action genre. Apart from this, she also shot from home for the digital thriller series "The Gone Game" during lockdown.