Shefali Shah, Huma S Qureshi hail OTT platforms for empowering actors and filmmakers at 10th edition of Expresso, watch

Shefali, agreeing with her co-star, added, “OTT platforms really changed that. They started giving full-fledged roles and stories that you may not have heard before, stories that may not conventionally fit the box office template or whatever the ‘requirement’ was. And so many creative people, I can say this confidently, so many who were brilliant but never got the opportunity, whose compliments never translated, got actual work.”

However, Huma also expressed concerns about how the current theatrical model can be unforgiving to smaller indie films. Citing her own film Single Salma, she said, “Single Salma released on 31st October, and not many people got to see it. It wasn’t really promoted, there was no marketing spend on it, not even a bare minimum. There was no real buzz or conversation around it because there was a belief that now it will come on a streamer, so there was no point in it, because of what you said, that people are not really coming into theaters. I feel it is going to kill the business because the big machismo and the blockbusters are not going to sustain the business; it’s the small and mid-size films that always have and will always keep the business going.”

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Huma S Qureshi and Shefali Shah further spoke at length about their experience working together on the Netflix series Delhi Crime Season 3. Huma also discussed stepping into the role of producer alongside her brother Saqib Saleem, while Shefali reflected on Mira Nair’s seminal film Monsoon Wedding.

Shefali Shah and Huma S Qureshi attended Expresso.

The Expresso session featuring Huma Qureshi and Shefali Shah is available to watch on The Indian Express YouTube channels. The event was held in association with AU Small Finance Bank as the presenting partner, The Taj Mahal, New Delhi as the venue partner, Radico as the celebration partner, Chambers of Kartik Seth as the knowledge partner, and Seetu Kohli Home as the luxury partner.

About Expresso

The Expresso series has become a platform for thought-provoking conversations with some of the biggest names in Indian entertainment. Previous editions have featured celebrities like Anupam Kher, Richa Chadha and Kabir Khan, Randeep Hooda and Hansal Mehta, Pankaj Tripathi, Kajol and Kriti Sanon, Javed Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar, Imtiaz Ali and Taapsee Pannu, and Vidya Balan and Pratik Gandhi.