To begin with, we need to understand the world’s cinematic influence on people. Earlier, world cinema, being an intellectual property, was restricted to a certain section of the masses.
What OTT did was bring World Cinema under one roof for its audience. Naturally, people now have started going beyond the specific, accustomed genre and paving a larger cinematic path for further exploration. This new genre enlists a myriad of film and television genres in the form of feature films, documentaries and web series in different languages.
When it comes to showing the confluence of OTT platforms as an influencer for food menus and restaurant formats, we need to understand the audience first. Various studies and research confirm that the majority of the audience are teenagers who have ranked Korean, Japanese, and other Asian movies as the most watched because of the mood of content they provide. The dominant drama, romance as the genre is predominant in these movies that have extracted a larger mass.
Now the interesting part is that Asian films, as a miniscule part of the culture, have internalised the food-eating practice – be it Hayao Miyazaki’s food compilation in his Anime movies, or the Korean 2018 release, Wok of Love, the name goes on. Netflix has also included various food-centric documentaries like the Midnight Diner: Tokyo Series, Street Food – Asia, Flavours of Youth etc. The beautiful imagery packed with gluttonous sensation is the trigger on point. The way these features are made for the perfect visual aid in its most aesthetic form enables the audience to indulge into this genre of food. This is where the restaurateurs have made the check-mate! Gradually, in India, there has been a proliferation of Korean and Japanese restaurants. Many have even adapted the street truck/ street van concept of selling Korean food in several places.
I think the OTT platforms have brought in a huge acceleration in establishing Korean and Japanese food culture in India.
We feel in the coming days, on-screen imagery will lead to new trends – what we consume, how we consume and where we consume certain things. The OTT platforms are also bringing far-off exotic things within people’s reach, demystifying intimidating practices and cuisines and helping the population of India adapt a wider range of flavours. From delicacies to everyday food, the consumers are hungry to explore, discover and adapt. And so for restaurants, these are great times to experiment, introduce unique dishes and create a niche for themselves.
