Vikramaditya Motwane talks about importance of content-driven entertainment

A lot has changed in the way stories are told today and anything that is not backed by good content will not find acceptance, says director Vikramaditya Motwane. Known for his films such as "Udaan", "Lootera", "Trapped" and massively popular Netflix series "Sacred Games, Motwane believes good writing is above everything.

"As filmmakers, we were limited as we could make films for single screens, then it was multiplexed but we had to stay within the two-hour format. Now we can take a film to the streaming platform. "All the trends in this creative space have shown that anything that is not content- driven is going to fail no matter how big the star is. It doesn't matter how big the film is if the story is not good, it will not be accepted," Motwane told PTI.

The director said, "Thugs of Hindostan" and "Zero" did not work despite being fronted by Aamir and Shah Rukh Khan whereas films like "Stree", "Aandhadhun" and "Badhaai Ho" did well at the box office because of their story. "Stardom can maybe pull audiences to theatres but beyond that, it is all about content," he said.

"Earlier films were made for single screen theatres then multiplex and now for digital (platform). But within streaming also things are changing in terms of storytelling and the time span. There might be shows coming in on Instagram or snapshot." The "Trapped" director is looking forward to season two of "Sacred Games".

"There are expectations but you and try make something good and not keep the expectations in mind. We have told the story that we wanted to," Motwani said. Motwane along with directors Rajkumar Hirani, Rajkumar Gupta and Amit Masurkar, has mentored new directors for an anthology of short films, titled "Shuruaat ka Twist" that released Friday.