Author(s): Sufiya Ansari

Abstract: The emergence of Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms has radically transformed the circulation, accessibility, and reception of contemporary Indian parallel cinema. Once confined to niche film festivals and limited theatrical releases, parallel films now find wider audiences through digital platforms such as Netflix, MUBI, SonyLIV, and Amazon Prime. This digital democratization has enabled filmmakers like Chaitanya Tamhane (Court, The Disciple), Anubhav Sinha (Article 15), and Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (Writing With Fire) to reach beyond regional and linguistic barriers. OTT platforms have thus revitalized the tradition of socially engaged cinema by providing financial viability, alternative distribution networks, and a global viewership attuned to realism and critique. However, the OTT revolution carries its own contradictions. Algorithms favor content with broader appeal, often marginalizing smaller independent productions in favor of “festival-friendly” or “globally marketable” narratives. The creative autonomy once associated with parallel cinema is increasingly shaped by data-driven audience analytics and platform censorship norms. Moreover, the privatized mode of consumption—watching socially charged films within personal digital spaces—risks diminishing the collective, discursive engagement that once defined art-house and parallel movements. The commodification of dissent and the branding of “serious cinema” within subscription economies also blur the boundary between resistance and market adaptation. This paper explores these ambivalences, arguing that while OTT platforms have expanded the geography of Indian parallel cinema, they have also restructured its ideological economy. The digital space, therefore, becomes both a site of liberation and containment—a paradoxical sphere where realism circulates widely yet risks assimilation within the logic of neoliberal spectatorship.

Keywords: OTT platform; Indian parallel cinema; digital distribution; spectatorship; cultural commodification

Article Info: Received: 10 Jan 2025; Received in revised form: 08 Feb 2026; Accepted: 11 Feb 2026; Available online: 14 Feb 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.111.42