The Begums Of Binge

OTT Platforms changed the Indian Entertainment Matrix for ever during the pandemic and driving their success has been a bunch of pioneering women

- Suhani Singh

The COVID-19 Pandemic May have confined Indians to their homes in the past year and a half, but amidst the gloom and doom, there was one sector that was experiencing a boom: streaming entertainment. A whole new breed of content creators and distributors from the brave new world of Over The Top (OTT) platforms brought a quiet revolution to the way Indians spent their days of confinement. Instead of the tyranny of appointment-viewing and re-runs of old movies that cable TV offered, OTT platforms used the internet to stream entertainment in all genres, formats, and languages. Most importantly, the content could be viewed at a time, place and on a device of our choosing: a cellphone, a laptop, a tablet—or, of course, a TV screen.

2020 was in fact a watershed year for the Indian entertainment industry. At long last, Indian viewers were spoilt for choice. The plethora of films, series, anthologies, documentaries, and shorts that OTT offered wasn’t limited to desi fare but was a massive buffet from across the world. Be it the anthology series Ray or the professor’s exploits in