Telling a tale with intensity: Where is our Assam !

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Telling a tale : Where is our Assam ?

Emon NC

The word ‘Binge’ in recent times has acquired a different connotation.

It has entered into the popular vocabulary along with the word ‘watch’, to mean a conscious indulgence in watching multiple episodes of a televised series, because one cannot wait to find out what happens next.

The boom or rather an explosion of OTT (over the top) platforms in India has changed the way people gobble up entertaining content.

Multi-device, multi-platform experience with the option of seamless switching between varied devices ( iOS, Android, iPad, Apple Tv, Firestick etc) had further contributed to the popularity of the streaming platforms. 

If the last decade saw the boom of multiplexes, 2020 turned out to be a boon for OTT based entertainment. The pandemic induced lockdown, that forced a new isolationist reality, had worked wonders for OTT. With the people staying indoors, their search for an adaptive means to keep busy and entertain themselves ended with the OTT. 

This period saw a gradual broadening of the base of OTT users, which went beyond the millennials and the metros to include housewives, senior citizens, and non metro areas. India has in fact become the world’s farthest growing market for streaming platforms. With an annual growth rate of 28.6 percent (as per report of PwC) it is poised to become the sixth-largest market by 2024, ahead of South Korea, Germany and Australia.   

With its audience base expanding, and newer businesses entering the field, online streaming has become a hugely competitive endeavor. In this new expanding ecosystem customer loyalty and retention has become the buzzword.  India has more than forty OTT platforms and this number is expected to go up further, as the internet and smartphones proliferate deeper into probable markets.

To survive such intense competition, the companies had adopted varied strategies. From right positioning to membership benefits to creating a unique selling point with niched products curated to target specific segments of the populace.

Discovery plus is aimed at audiences that prefer unscripted content, Disney+Hotstar for family and sports viewing, Netflix for premium affluent audiences, Brit box for British television shows, Hayu for reality television, etc. The list is long and with the regional platforms coming up with localized content, one can well imagine the pace with which this sector is growing

An analysis of the digital viewing phenomenon reveals that it is a content-driven medium.   In the OTT content is the King. With a multitude of options available, it necessitates creating strong immersive content to retain customer loyalty.  International brands like Netflix and Amazon had shown the way with their strong relatable content, made with a new cinematic grammar that ushered in the era of Binge watching.  

All being said about the popularity of the medium. If we make a survey of the content available across the platforms, it throws up some startling results. Although in terms of variety there is no dearth of choices, when it comes to the geographical rooting of the stories, a dismal picture emerges for Assam and northeast India, there is hardly any content playing from this part of the world. 

There are a few series like the Last Hour that draw oblique reference to Northeast, but nothing concrete. A few Assamese films that received critical appreciation are on the platforms, but their audience are limited. If we draw up a comparison with West Bengal or other States, it would surprise many as to where we stand.

While Bengal has inundated the OTT with their stories and content, not to speak about Hoi Choi  (a Bengali language-specific OTT that had been churning out some brilliant series, finding acclaim even in the deep South) Assam has none to offer.

It naturally raises pertinent questions- Don’t we have stories to tell? Isn’t the collective struggle of our river valley civilization worth sharing? Don’t we want the world to know about us?  Or is it just that we are not confident about our heritage and culture to share it with others?

But if we look back into the chapters of our past and try to understand the genesis of our civilization, it points toward a strong storytelling tradition. Each of the tribes and communities that populate this wonderful land has its own folklore and anecdote.

Our heritage is replete with ideas and artistic expressions that still hold sway over the collective memory of the people. Our people in the past had expressed themselves in the most fearless and aesthetic way. So then what went wrong!

The answers to these questions are not easy to find. We can only make assumptions. A lot of factors from the historical to political to economic had influenced the way we interact with others. And somewhat in this process of assimilation and exclusion, we have developed an inward-looking self indulgent attitude. This combined with the gross disregard for the past has created a myopic prison, with no exit door in sight. 

During the 15th and the 16th century when Martin Luther, started reforming Christianity, in Assam  Shrimanta Shankaradev, led a socio-religious movement that laid the  foundation of greater Assamese society. Gurujona was not only a religious figure but also a poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, and artist. But how many know about him beyond the boundaries of Assam? 

When the whole of India was under the suzerainty of the Mughals, they couldn’t take an inch of  Assam. It was largely because of the valor and military genius of generals like Lachit Barphukan. Does India rejoice in him?

India produces around 2000 films per year. A few years after the release of the first Indian talkie (Alam Ara in 1931), Joti Prasad Aggarwal made the first Assamese film. He not only produced the film but also wrote it, directed it, and even built a cinema hall to showcase it. But in the annals of Indian cinema history, he is a forgotten name. 

The excuse of mainland apathy no longer applies to the present scenario. It’s we, who are to be blamed.  Commenting on the advent of digital cameras, legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg said  that this will democratize cinema. Now everybody can make movies.

In Assam, this prophecy took shape in the production of a large number of video films (VCD). The industry is non-existent now. The reason – weak content, no artistic presentation and a lack of understanding of the medium.

We should not and cannot make this mistake again. Just like digital cameras, OTT has revolutionized the broadcasting and distribution channels for content. The multiplexes and big production houses no longer run the game. We need to take advantage of this change and realign our interests or else we are forever doomed to remain trapped in the mundane discourse of mainland versus periphery debate.

[Images from different sources]

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