Why Did Actor-Producer Alia Bhatt Opt For OTT Release Of Her Movie ‘Darlings’?

Mumbai: These are exciting times for Alia Bhatt.

The actress, who has been delivering one stellar performance after another in the last few years, got married to Ranbir Kapoor in April and the duo is expecting their first child later this year.

And on August 5, she made her ‘debut’ as a producer. ‘Darlings’ co-produced by Alia and Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, started streaming on Netflix.

Alia plays the lead in the dark comedy, which also features Vijay Varma and Shefali Shah.

The ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ actress has bankrolled ‘Darlings’ — directed by debutant Jasmeet K Reen — under her banner Eternal Sunshine.

But why did she decide to release the movie on OTT?

The actor-producer said it was always her plan to release ‘Darlings’ digitally.

“It was not something that we discussed during the pandemic. In 2019 we all had met with regards to Darlings, that’s where the initial talks began. Then in 2020, the world went into lockdown, but from the very beginning, we said that this is that kind of film which on a platform like Netflix will be very good, for various reasons,” Alia told IndiaToday.in in an exclusive interview.

“On Day 1 itself, you reach out to over 190 countries, so who wouldn’t want that reach? As we all know the world has become a very small place thanks to content lying on OTT. We are consuming content of all languages — Korean, Spanish, South Indian, etc. It is something that has become very easily accessible now. We don’t have to take a flight or go to film festivals, it’s just a unique way of consuming content,” Alia explained.

She went on to say that ‘Darlings’ is not a large-scale, larger-than-life sort of spectacle.

“It’s an intimate, intricate story of all these characters and their lives and their journeys. So, I don’t mind where you watch it as long as you watch it. A film like Gangubai (Kathiawadi) you had to consume that film in the theatre first because that was the style, it was just a spectacle. But Darlings is not that kind of a film, I am not saying it negatively. I’m just saying that it’s an intimate watch. So I don’t mind watching it by myself. We are very happy that it is releasing on a platform like Netflix.”