"Cinema experience can’t be compared to the boredom of watching it in your home", Rani Mukerji on comparison of OTT to Theatres!

Actor Rani Mukherji recently made a comeback to the big screen with Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway, and she said she relished experiencing the "excitement, fear, and anticipation" surrounding a movie's theatrical debut. She readily admits that OTT is the new buzzword in business, but she quickly adds that nothing can ever replace seeing a story come to life on the big screen.

Rani said, “OTT (space) is a very new concept which has come in the last two- three years. That is when the whole conversation around the OTT content started. It is new to all of us, not only me, but films predominantly are supposed to be watched on the 70mm or 90mm screen,”.

She further added that movie watching is a community experience, just like the time when people go and watch a match or game in a stadium. “The whole feeling is very different from the feeling that we get when we are watching sports on TV. It is the same thing when you watch a film in an audience. Just like how theatre, which is about actors performing live, moved to cinema, where people go and watch the project in a dark room. It is an immersive experience,” adds the actor, stressing that the “immersive feeling” comes only when you are in a movie theatre.

“It doesn’t come when you are sitting at home, distracted by your phone, or by something else. There might be a call coming, or you have to go somewhere. You can pause the film. That experience is unmatched with the experience that we get on the big screen,” shares Mukherji.

She further compared the experience of going to a theatre, “That’s what is exciting about cinema. Not that you come back home after a hard day’s work, and just scroll what to watch and not watch. Cinema experience can’t be compared to the boredom of watching it in your home. For me, that’s too boring. I like to see films on the big screen to see. That’s the beauty of cinema,” she ends.