Filmmaker Ismail Umar Khan says that while reels and YouTube are hugely popular, they can never overtake OTT or cinema. He says that people will always want to watch shows and series, and cannot just rely on YouTube or OTT for entertainment.
“Though it’s not the future, everything is easily replaceable by better options, but YouTube is going to stay if it’s free. People don’t mind watching ads in between and you don’t need any approval to post your content, just need to follow their simple guidelines,” he says, adding, “Reels or YouTube will never rule over OTT or cinema. They are different mediums, and reels and YouTube have given many aspiring talents to display their talent. If you have something extraordinary in you, you are surely going to get noticed.”
He says that social media has made a lot of things easier though. “Social media is a boon. Especially if all the people concerned are connected to your profile, we can display our new work and let the world know. Earlier, we had to move from office to offices with VCD & DVDs just to exhibit our work to producers and creatives. Things have become easy and one has to just share the link on FB or link in the bio on Instagram,” he says.
He adds, “I love to watch informative and entertaining content. But just for likes and views, people are making vulgar content. They are stooping down, sharing or making false information content, fake news for views to earn money.”
You need to be careful about what you post, he says, adding, “Reels influence people in both ways, good and bad. It's up to your taste. Everything is available, you just have to click. The algorithm of this app knows your taste and it will display what you like. People earn from it, I would also love to make some money during my free time. I believe that the important thing is what you show, YouTube or reels are just a medium. You can’t earn from these if you don’t have talent or expertise.”
