Shreyas Talpade on his OTT venture Nine Rasa The Artist, Actor, Producer & Entrepreneur

The brainchild of Shreyas Talpade, an OTT platform exclusively for theatre called "Nine Rasa' was launched on 9th April this year. The initial idea for starting Nine Rasa was introduced during the digitization of cooking, health, fitness, education, etc and at that point, Shreyas realized that theatres should go digital. The restrictions were in place due to the pandemic and lockdown which became a massive roadblock. With a limited crew and special permission, plays started getting recorded. Shreyas Talpade on helping theatres, says "Theatre is magical once you see theatre, that is when you realize the magic of it and that is what I felt somewhere you have been thinking all along, "What can I do for theatre?" and then I guess it was time when this thing happened last year and then I said okay probably this is something I am supposed to do for theatre so let me just jump in and start working on it." The initiative that was "Nine Rasa' created 1500 jobs. The whole process of shooting the plays was done in intervals. The venture is completely self-funded with 100% original content shot on and for "Nine Rasa'. The content will be uploaded on the platform in a phased manner. More creators are up for the transition from live to screens. According to Shreyas, Content had always been the King and the content has to be good because that is what sells the product. The mandate was very clear for Shreyas that content should not be compromised. The content on the platform had to be great and should comprise great actors. Shreyas disclosed that he went with his gut before selecting a film. He needs to hear one line that would explain the film and then he decides whether he wants to do it or not. Shreyas Talpade on selecting his movies, said "There are some films which are magical like Iqbal. I tend to go with my gut most of the time, it is only certain times there are other factors that influence me, and most of the times I go with my gut." Shreyas took the help of his elder cousin brother with the technological side of Nine Rasa prior to launching it. With theatre coming to every TV screen now, the reception has been very good according to Shreyas and he wants to make Nine Rasa big for his daughter. He wants to be recognized as the one who started and the one who developed the digital theatre game and placed it on a pedestal.

(This article was first published in the August 2021 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)