Digital media is making its presence felt across the world. With its rising demands, filmmakers, producers and actors too are trying their hands in it and the latest one to join this medium is SVF, which is Eastern India’s one of the largest entertainment companies. The company has produced films like Chokher Bali, Raincoat, Memories in March, Apur Panchali, Chotoder Chobi, and Chander Pahar.
SVF’s newest venture is Hoichoi, a one-stop online destination for Bengali entertainment - an on-demand Video Streaming Website and App – with over 500 Movies, 1000 Songs and Original Web Series.
In an exclusive chat with TellyChakkar.com, Shrikant Mohta, Co-Founder - SVF and Hoichoi, talked about this latest venture, its future plans and more. Excerpts:
Web series started long back. Why did it take so long for you to do something like this in Bengal?
Yes, web series started long back. It first started in America then some of the web series started in India. I think a few have also been made in West Bengal but none has been done the way Hoichoi is doing. It has web series which looks like films, has big stars and here the stories will be narrated in a way which the audience has not experienced before.
How did the idea come across your mind?
This idea has been coined by my brother, Vishnu (Co-Founder - Hoichoi and Executive Director – SVF). He is an integral part of our company. Vishnu belongs to the present generation, therefore, it is needless to say, he has consumed such entertainment in various platforms and thought about creating something like this in Bengal and thus began the research in terms of the kind of technology required so on and so forth and that is how we started.
The web series has both the film and TV actors playing prominent roles. So, somewhere, is Hoichoi trying to give the same platform to both the film and TV actors?
The lines are getting blurred. A good actor is always excited to play a good character no matter what the medium is. For any director or actor, a good story matters the most. So, slowly and steadily, these lines are getting blurred. An actor would always like to work in a big medium. Cinema is a big thing; it gives you a larger than life feel but then it is not necessary for every actor to make cinema their base. Content matters the most.
Considering the boom of technology, especially the young generation and the technology savvy are hooked to their mobile screens. Don’t you think with the advent of this app, it would be difficult to take them to the theatres?
No medium ends. Whenever a new medium makes an entry in the market, we feel that it is a threat to the existing ones. But that’s not the case. We listen to music on our iPod but don’t we listen to radio as well? People are hungry for entertainment and over the years the hunger has increased. That’s why different types of mediums are being created through which stories are being told. the other things is people also want convenience, the entertainment dished out to them should be according to their schedules and time and these are some of the reasons behind the increased consumption of such platforms. If people want to experience a larger than life feel, there is cinema for them and if they want to watch a film from the comfort of their homes, there is TV. So, basically no medium ever ends.
What are you future plans for Hoichoi?
We have entered the field with over 500 movies and 10 originals. In future, every month, we will come up with two-three original shows and will add another 1000 films to our kitty. The next game plan will be to make original shows in Bangladesh and get original good content in the form of films or television from Bangladesh.
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