At the Filmfare OTT Awards 2025 press conference in Mumbai on Friday, Sanya Malhotra delivered a refreshing and grounded take on the pressures of social media and the creative liberation offered by OTT platforms. Before touching on her career-defining journey in the streaming world, Sanya first spoke about the personal discipline she maintains in an era where online visibility often overshadows artistic merit.
Opening up about how she navigates the digital spotlight, Sanya explained that social media has never been a burden for her because she has learned to draw firm lines around it. She said, “For me, that’s not a challenge. I have strict boundaries when it comes to social media and my work. At home, when I’m doing my things and when I’m doing my social media it’s not work for me. Apart from the work-related videos or brand collaborations, whatever I post is just me being myself. Even with my own brand—I’ve started my matcha brand—it’s an extension of me. I don’t have to go out of character to do anything. But yes, I maintain strict boundaries. When I’m stressed, that’s when I doom-scroll on Instagram, and I try not to do that… it makes me feel disconnected from the people who are actually around me. I am here to impress everyone with my work, not through my social media.”
Shifting the conversation to the creative world of streaming, Sanya spoke passionately about how OTT shaped her career and changed the industry’s approach to storytelling. She shared, “These are two galaxies that have come together. I feel the ecosystem has expanded for us. And as creators, there is freedom to experiment with the kind of content we are making. For me, my first OTT release was Pagglait, and it changed my career path. The industry started seeing me differently, and I saw that shift happening.
For Sanya, OTT wasn’t just a new platform—it was a turning point that allowed her to explore roles with more depth, nuance and individuality.