One of Pakistan’s top actors, Mehwish Hayat thinks that local content does not meet the standards of international OTT Platforms.
Speaking about why Pakistani content has so far been failed to make its presence on OTT giants like Netflix and Amazon, Mehwish said a lot of things need to be corrected.
“Our content is not good enough for OTT giants. The global audience is far more sophisticated, and our content is too geared for the home market,” she told Gulf News in an interview.
“Not that there is anything wrong with that but what works here does not travel internationally; our storytelling conventions and production aesthetics are too brash and melodramatic,” she added.
Mehwish gave an example of Korea who excelled on OTT Platforms despite being a much smaller country than Pakistan.
“If a small country like Korea can top Netflix’s global charts, why can’t we? I’ve been watching a lot of international work in the past year, and I am amazed at the simplicity of the productions—it’s not just about having big budgets,” she shared.
The actor believes that Pakistan can live up to the standards of international OTT Platforms if the industry starts from the scratch, leaving behind typical Pakistani ‘challay ga’ attitude.
“If we are to have the likes of Netflix and Amazon take Pakistani content, we are going to have to start from scratch with a totally different mindset and be a lot more professional. Our “challay ga” attitude will not wash in a global marketplace,” she concluded.
