'We need to promote creative freedom'

The policy paper for Delhi-based think tank Esya Centre comes barely weeks after Union Information & Broadcasting ministry brought OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime under its ambit to regulate the content aired by them.
 

Portions of the policy paper titled 'Embracing Non-Linearity: The Future of India's Entertainment Industry' have emerged in the media with both Shekhar Kapur an Vani Tripathi Tikoo calling for promoting creative freedom through industry-led standards, as is the practice in countries around the world. 

"This will require active and continued engagement by the industry, as well as recognition and support from the state. Second, we must focus on building our hardware capabilities. The bundling of content with devices is already ubiquitous. And finally, we need to move to a principles-based approach to regulation, which would ensure consistency of purpose across the expanding range of technologies in the media ecosystem," the duo wrote in an except carried by Outlook India.

Highlight the significance of OTT platforms in India today, Kapur and Tikoo said, "The growing OTT ecosystem offers flexibility to creators and consumers, expands choice, and lowers distribution and search costs. Other developments such as strides in artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality, are opening up new possibilities in entertainment, creating entirely new categories of products. In its response to these changes, India could potentially propel the sector to new heights and make the country a global leader in entertainment."

Their report also recommended that Indian content makers focus on 'telling our own stories' and highlight Indian values. "Its (India's) cultural heritage is ancient and diverse, and remains underrepresented on the world stage. It is also well suited to the non-linear entertainment of future, as it contains many traditions of oral storytelling that yield multiple threads from a common recognisable narrative,” they said.