Though the Malayalam industry continues to be a smaller market in the OTT space, it has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years. Today, the Malayalam web series' are powered by more prominent, influential names from various industries. Bollywood powerhouse Alia Bhatt, producing Malayalam web series 'Poacher' directed by Richie Mehta, lent more poster value to the Prime Video original. So did Suhasini's presence in 'Jai Mahendran' and 'Soul Stories', which premiered in SonyLiv and Manorama Max, respectively, and Neena Gupta's collaboration in Disney+Hotstar's original ‘1000 Babies.'
Sangeetha Janachandran, founder, Stories Social and marketing & Communications consultant, said there has been a general shift in the way OTT platforms market their content now. "OTT platforms are now more focused on increasing subscriptions through original content, rather than depending solely on theatrical to OTT releases. So, casting actors across industries will increase diversity and bring in more subscriptions across languages to OTT platforms. The same formula applies to Malayalam web series, too," she said.
She added that OTT platforms won't have to worry about budget constraints while casting big names in their original content. "Unlike cinema, OTT platforms set aside a certain budget for each season, so remuneration for big stars is comparatively smooth and easy," she said.
Rahul Riji Nair, who headlined 'Jai Mahendran', said makers think pan-Indian in every aspect, including casting. "This has been our thought process from day one of web-series making in Malayalam. It is not only limited to casting but also to content. Of course, involving Suhasini Ma'am was one of the aspects of marketing the film to a larger audience. If you look at it now, 'Jai Mahendran' has equal or even more viewership in Tamil than in Malayalam. This has been possible due to content and casting, along with other factors. 'Jai Mahendran' is a region-agnostic movie representing panchayat offices nationwide. We could have approached the series more realistic to make it Kerala-centric, but we made it pan-Indian because we understand the market," he said.
Najeem Koya, director of '1000 Babies', explains the casting process, equating it to popularising regional, delicious cuisine to a global audience. "Imagine an elderly woman making good pickle. Her pickle may only be popular among the villagers where she sells it. But if the same pickle is marketed to the outside world, it becomes popular among food lovers. We used the same tactic for ‘1000 Babies'. When I approached Neena Gupta with the story, she first asked why I chose her. I told her there are talented actors in Malayalam, but I wanted her since she could contribute to a global appeal. And that has worked for our web series," he said.