Watching a movie in theatre is an immersive and larger-than-life experience: Santosh Sivan

Among the few notable films released in Kollywood this year was Rajinikanth-starrer Darbar, which had ace lensman-filmmaker Santosh Sivan cranking the camera for the Superstar’s project after a gap of almost three decades. Santosh's next project in Tamil, titled Centimetre, has Manju Warrier and Yogi Babu playing lead roles. The movie, he says, is quite a different attempt - a fun entertainer, which also has elements of science fiction, AI, and some thrilling moments. On the influx of movies releasing on OTT platforms, he feels theatres and OTT will continue to co-exist. But according to him, one can’t imagine viewing big stars’ films, like that of a Rajini film or a Vijay movie on an OTT platform. Watching a movie in a theatre is an immersive and larger-than-life experience; OTT can't offer you that. The magic of theatre experience will remain forever. Ask him if he would step out to watch movies if theatres open soon, and he says, "Yes, absolutely. I badly want to go out with my family. I don't mind going out to watch a movie. I'm sure theatres will take adequate precautions." Be it a horror movie or a fun film, you can enjoy the experience to the fullest only if you watch it on the big screen, surrounded by a lot of people. The impact of the visuals is best felt in such an ambience. So, are there any films which he is waiting for? He says, "I am looking forward to watching Vijay's Master."