Shreyas Talpade on his OTT platform for theatre and performing arts

New Delhi: Actor Shreyas Talpade on Friday launched his OTT platform Nine Rasa, dedicated to performances related to the stage.

"There is going to be a lot of content completely dedicated to theatre and the performing arts. All the content that happens or can happen on stage will feature on our OTT, Nine Rasa. That includes full-length plays, one-act plays, skits, stand-ups, chats, stories, poetry, music, dance and more," he told IANS.

"It will feature all Indian languages. To begin with, we have content in Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati apart from English. Going forward we will also be adding other Indian languages like Bengali, Malayalam, Rajasthani, Haryanvi to our kitty," he added.

On the name of the app, Shreyas explained: "The name Nine Rasa is derived from Nav Ras, which means nine emotions. Our lives revolve around these emotions. We thought why not have a name that is synonymous with those emotions. Also, we wanted a name that is Indian at heart but has a global appeal," explained the actor.

What inspired him to create his own OTT platform? "The idea started with the intention to help theatre artistes and technicians during lockdown when theatres were shut. They didn't know what to do and also, they did not have any source of revenue. Also, Indian theatre, which is so developed and has so much value, should reach out more to global audiences. So we thought there should be a dedicated platform for theatre and performing arts. These were the two main reasons why I decided to start my own OTT app," he replied.

"Many actors including me have gratified our success to theatre but rarely we do anything concrete for it. I am in no position to repay whatever theatre has done for me, it has helped me reach here. This is just a small effort by the kid who started theatre to pay back in a little way," he added.

Content for his self-funded app is being prepared ever since lockdown last year, informed the actor.

"We have not acquired ready content. Instead, we have over 100 hours of content exclusively shot for Nine Rasa, which is completely original. The content will be live in a phased manner," he shared.