Gautami: OTT platforms are giving quality work to my peers 

Actors Gautami, Bharath and Vinoth Kishan talk about their challenges in working in their recent SonyLiv anthology Story of Things, being a part of the evolving Tamil cinema and more. 
Gautami: OTT platforms are giving quality work to my peers 
Gautami: OTT platforms are giving quality work to my peers 

SonyLiv's recent Tamil anthology Story of Things, directed by George K Antoney, is a rare project for several reasons. It isn't an everyday occurrence to see even the cast members being unable to slot their work under a genre. Bharath, who plays the lead in the segment, Weighing Machine, calls Story of Things a unique experience mainly because of the core concept of the anthology. "I have been acting for two decades. But for the very first time, I had an inanimate object as my co-star." This perplexed emotion is echoed by actors Gautami and Vinoth Kishan too, who play the leads in segments involving a cell phone and a mirror, respectively. "It is such learning experiences that keeps me going," says Gauthami, who along with her co-stars Vinoth Kishan and Bharath talk about working in this unique anthology, and their journey in cinema.

Excerpts from the conversation:

The Origin Story

Incidentally, six years after the release of the Malayalam supernatural film, E, Gauthami returned to acting with Story of Things, which also deals with the paranormal among other things. "I wouldn't say that I am extremely picky, or I wait for extraordinary scripts to come my way. However, I strongly wish to be part of interesting stories that are made by filmmakers with a vision. Story of Things ticked all those boxes, and I wasted no time in signing the project. I hate dilly-dallying," she says.

Bharath, on the other hand, continues his thriller streak, which started in Kaalidas with Story of Things. "It isn't a conscious choice to stick to this genre. I guess it is a season of thrillers. Since audiences are liking these films actors like me have to supply this demand. Above all, I knew that this anthology will be a memorable piece of work right when I signed it," he explains.

Story of Performers

Story of Things is a tale of several objects that gain supernatural powers and influence the lives of people around them. The actors had to laugh, cry, and rage in front of a lifeless object. This sounds like a perfectly refreshing acting exercise for performers who are so used to conventional methods of storytelling. "It was a refreshing change for sure. But, boy it was challenging! My character has several layers and interacting with a weighing machine only added to the challenge. It was quite a learning experience." Gautami too resonates with this opinion. "I have a constant urge to explore new stories and prove myself as a competent performer. As long as I am alive I wish to keep doing projects like Story of Things that help actors set newer benchmarks."

Story of Multi-starrers

In recent years, we saw interesting performers joining hands together for several anthologies and hyperlink films. Strangely, these actors hardly get time to get along with each other because of the barrier created by the format. "Even though some of the performers I admire were part of these projects, I wasn't able to interact with them as we never got to share screen space. Though I understand it is a limitation of the format, I really wish actors like me get to deliver collaborative performances soon," says Vinoth, who shares an interesting insight about his Story of Things co-star. "Bharath sir used to be my dance teacher when I was prepping to get into cinema. Even though we have worked as leads in Story of Things, we never met. It was only during the promotions that I reminded him of this detail, and recalled our old times."

Story of OTTs

Vinoth is slowly but steadily emerging as one of the prominent names in the OTT space with radically different roles. "Well, I don't have a solid game plan. I just want to be remembered as a versatile performer. But I have to admit that OTT has opened doors for talents like me," he replies. Gautami seconds Vinoth's statement about OTT reviving the career of her contemporaries. "It is so heartening to see my peers and seniors do quality work these days. They are getting to be the face of films and series, and play characters that drive the story forward. It is quite an interesting time to be an actor."

Story of Dance Numbers

Though the new-age story-telling and digital platforms have paved way for interesting genres, it has in a way curbed the age-old requisites like dance numbers as a trade for engaging narratives. Bharath sees this as a major loss for cinema. "Tambaram thaanduna ella audience um padathula dance ketkranga. Cinema is an entertaining medium and it is very natural for fans to expect the stars to dance. But off late, all the filmmakers are shunning the idea of dance numbers, terming them as mood-killers and distractions. This trend has to change for good." Taking a cue from Bharath, Gautami says, "Just because the recent crop of successful films didn't have songs or dance numbers, many filmmakers have started to assume that having a song will make their films bad. Let's not forget  that audiences have always celebrated enjoyable dance numbers." 

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