It’s been a year and two months since Nandita Das critically acclaimed directorial, Zwigato, released in theatres, and it still seems to be struggling to find an OTT release. Starring Kapil Sharma and Shahana Goswami in lead roles, had travelled to various film festivals before it released in India, and garnered a positive response.

Disappointed that a good film like Zwigato is taking so long to reach the digital audiences, Goswami retorts, “It’s very unfortunate that Zwigato is still not on any OTT platform for viewing, and I honestly don’t know the reason behind it. I fact, I keep checking with the makers that when and how and why, but they also don’t have the answers.”

The 38-year-old played the role of Kapil’s onscreen wife Pratima in the film that’s based on the life of a food delivery boy and his struggles during lockdown. “I know that this film would have been loved by people if they manage to get a chance to watch it. So many people still keep asking about it when that will come out on OTT but I don’t know the status. It’s very sad,” she actor.

That being said, Goswami is being an optimist and is waiting with bated breath for the film to get a digital due and reach a wider audience.

“I still have hopes. It’s never too late for something good to come out. Sometimes, may be the larger build up of it not having shown up for so long on any OTT platform, may be that actually makes it special. That may be one and a half or two years later, it will be a prized possession that everyone wants to get their hands on. Who knows! The destiny of these things is very hard to tell. I like to believe that everything happens for the better, so I hope whenever Zwigato makes its way to OTT, it will be the right time for the film,” asserts the actor, refuting reports that she has been roped in for yet another film with Kapil. “I don’t have any idea of such conversations even remotely,” she quips.

Meanwhile, Goswami has something to celebrate and be happy about. Her film Santosh is being screened at the 77th Cannes Film Festival today (May 20), in Un Certain Regard category, and she has gone to attend the same with the rest of the film’s team.

The actor, who plays the titular role in the film, doesn’t distinguish between Indian and international audience, however, she reasons why some films get better response on global international platforms and not so much when they release in India.

“I think it has got to do with firstly India being a huge country that has all kinds of cinema, whereas these film festivals have a very niche kind of films that they select, which get appreciated. Also, somewhere, India has a sensibility that it’s very vast in its range, in terms of people who enjoy out and out Bollywood masala films, and who also enjoy comedy, realistic cinema, or a very grungy film,” the actor says.

Another problem that Goswami finds is with the way a film is marketed once it is released in the domestic market. “Often these films (shown at festivals) are not reaching the audience because producers are making it independently and there’s very little money in terms of marketing it later and pushing it in theatres. So, that’s probably why these films are not seen much, and not because people don’t like watching them,” she ends.