If there’s one name synonymous with ‘blockbuster’ in the history of Indian cinema, it is none other than Subhash Ghai. The brilliant director, producer is an institution within himself and carries a rich legacy of blockbuster hits such as ‘Ram Lakhan,’ ‘Pardes,’ to name a few. All his films are known to complete a minimum of 25 weeks in the theatres – in fact, Mr Ghai was called the king of ‘Silver Jubilee.’
Not just his films, Subhash Ghai’s debut on OTT as a producer is also shattering records. The cinema stalwart’s first outing as a producer ’36 Farmhouse,’ has clocked a massive viewership running successfully for 25 weeks on Zee5. The movie is touted to be a family entertainer and supposedly, the satellite release of Subhash Ghai’s ’36 Farmhouse’ has been pushed due to its enormously successful run on the OTT platform.
On touching yet another milestone, the ace film-maker, Subhash Ghai avers, “Celebrating silver jubilee is a jubilant expression of success of a feature film for any film maker irrespective of the platform. I want to share my happiness with my entire team at Mukta Arts, the brilliant artists of ’36 farmhouse,’ our partners Zee5, Zee Studios and everyone involved. There are 3 reasons behind this celebration, firstly this is my first outing on OTT to make a film and not a web series. Secondly, the subject that I have taken was complex, we shot the entire movie with a story curated between two families and one house. Thirdly, every artist, every crew, every member from Zee5 and Zee Studios have worked hard on this one. I want to celebrate this milestone with all of them and for all of them.”
On his consistency to outdo himself, he further stated, “Girte hain shah sawar hi maidan-e-jung me, Haar k baad hi jeet hoti hai.” At times, you go through a stage wherein people feel that Subhash ji is outdated now, how will he make movie, why he will make movie, and such questions arise but in this film, I am a story writer, I am a scriptwriter, I became a music composer, I penned down the lyrics. I was overlooking everything. It was an exciting experience.”
On being asked about his most memorable experience from the film, he mentioned, “For ’36 Farmhouse, I penned down lyrics and composed music. I am hands on with direction but acting as a lyricist and a music composer was a surely new experience for me. When I attended a musical live show on television, I was so thrilled to see all those newcomer children singing ‘Mausam bhi aisa, Har Manzar bhi aisa hai’ from the film. I felt ecstatic.
Subhash Ghai further reiterated his experience on working on an OTT for this first time, “I come from a place where we need to showcase evrything larger than life on a 70mm screen with 6 tracks but OTT doesn’t work that way. You are more accountable to the audience. There is more authenticity on OTT platforms, people are attuned to a ‘real’ perspective here. It was definitely a new experience for me. I am absolutely thrilled about it and am delighted that the audience accepted it open arms.”
The movie continues to garner rave reviews owing to its critically acclaimed star cast starring Sanjay Mishra, Vijay Raaz, Ashwini Kalsekar, Amol Parashar along with Social media influencer Barkha Singh.
