Anushka Sharma and brother Karnesh Sharma had announced that after their production house, Clean Slate Filmz, they are all set to venture into an OTT platform. The announcement of Clean OTT, however, was followed closely by Anushka stepping down from her role as a producer and announcing that she will focus on acting for now. So, will we see Anushka getting involved in projects releasing on Clean OTT? Karnesh Sharma responded to that question.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Karnesh asserted that his sister Anushka will definitely be involved, but there’s a disclaimer. He said, “Anushka will be involved as an actor, for sure, but not as a producer or creative input. But always a well-wisher for sure. She is talented and one of the best out there.”
He also revealed what his plan with Clean OTT is and said, “The idea is, of course, to have an OTT platform for women. But it is also to have a platform that tells stories that have a positive female gaze. It could be a story with male protagonists but what the gaze of the story is for women is very important. It is how women are represented on screen, how they are shown, what they are doing, what is their agency, that is what we have to change.”
He also added that he and Anushka had been brought up in a gender-neutral home where they were not discriminated. He revealed, “I come from a defence upbringing. My father was in the Indian Army and Anushka and I were never treated differently. We were never made to feel that she was a girl and I was a boy. As much as she had to come home early after playing in the evening, I had to too. It wasn’t like I was given any leeway there. I think that’s what Defence taught us. I would give a lot of credit to our upbringing and the Indian Armed Forces. We were born into a system that was neutral towards gender.”
Karnesh also added that there are 18-19 titles ready for Clean OTT. Anushka Sharma, on the 20th of March had announced that she will be moving on from her responsibilities in her production house, leaving it entirely to her brother Karnesh. She also added that being a new mother, she will focus her energies on her first love- ‘acting’.
