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Bollywood Superstar Nawazuddin Siddiqui To Quit Streaming Shows

  Bollywood superstar Nawazuddin Siddiqui said he will stop working in productions made for India’s booming streaming market, calling online platforms a “dumping ground for … Continue reading Bollywood Superstar Nawazuddin Siddiqui To Quit Streaming Shows


(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 07, 2019 Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui poses for photographs during the promotion of his upcoming comedy drama Hindi film ‘Motichoor Chaknachoor’ in Mumbai. – Bollywood superstar Nawazuddin Siddiqui says he will stop working for India’s booming streaming market, slamming the online platforms as a “dumping ground for redundant shows”. (Photo by Sujit Jaiswal / AFP)
(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 07, 2019, Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui poses for photographs during the promotion of his upcoming comedy-drama Hindi film ‘Motichoor Chaknachoor’ in Mumbai. (Photo by Sujit Jaiswal / AFP)

 

Bollywood superstar Nawazuddin Siddiqui said he will stop working in productions made for India’s booming streaming market, calling online platforms a “dumping ground for redundant shows”.

India’s population of 1.3 billion people has attracted streaming giants Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney’s Hotstar, all keen to tap into a vast and fast-growing market.

Siddiqui, a celebrated film actor, starred in Netflix’s first Indian original series “Sacred Games”, released in 2018 to international acclaim.

But the 47-year-old told entertainment site Bollywood Hungama in an interview published on the weekend that “quantity has killed quality” on the so-called over-the-top (OTT) web platforms.

“The platform has become a dumping ground for redundant shows. We either have shows that don’t deserve to be seen in the first place. Or sequels to shows that have nothing more to say,” he said.

“It’s become ‘dhanda’ (Hindi for racket) for big production houses and actors… Major film producers in Bollywood have cut lucrative deals with all the big players in the OTT field. Producers get whopping amounts to create unlimited content.”

He added that the “excitement and challenge around the digital medium” that he experienced while working on “Sacred Games” was gone.

“When I can’t bear to watch them how can I bear to be in them?” he added.

Siddiqui has been described as one of Hindi cinema’s great success stories.

He came from humble beginnings in a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and made it big in Bollywood after moving to India’s film capital Mumbai in 2000.

The Indian entertainment market — valued at $24 billion by accountancy giant EY — is already one of the world’s biggest, while smartphone adoption is forecast to expand further in coming years.