Digital shows have been flooded with dark themes, graphic violence and sex, as well as use of cuss words, and actor Barun Sobti feels makers should also explore lighthearted stories in the medium.

"In the last few months, most shows released are action thrillers and stories of murder mystery. What happened is that, once one genre is successful, whether in cinema or web series, producers start investing in more shows in that genre because they realise that it is a newfound section of a growing audience. Success always inspires others to make similar stories, but that is where we miss out on exploring different stories, different genres," Barun told IANS.

"We should shift focus from thriller, action, toxic content that has a lot of violence or abusive dialogues, and think about stories on relationships, well-written comedies and drama," he added.

Barun recently appeared in the five-episode thriller web series "The Missing Stone" along with actress Bidita Bag.

Seconding his thought, Bidita said: "I think since OTT platforms give us creative freedom, we should at least take more creative risk and experiment. For the theatrical release of a film, there is a pressure of box office returns on producers. If on OTT platforms, too, we start making shows based on one formula, how will we grow creatively? For example, if a show like 'Mirzapur' gets success, many stories in the same genre started coming into the web space."

"The Missing Stone" is directed by Vishal Furia and Alok Naik, and also features Rashi Mal, Saqib Ayub, Vitthal Kale, Pallavi Patil. The show streams on MX Player.

(Arundhuti Banerjee can be contacted at arundhuti.b@ians.in)