Raid 2 not only emerged as a blockbuster at the box office, but also gave Ajay Devgn’s career a new life. So far, the sequel to the hit 2018 entry has grossed over INR 243 crores. And now, it has arrived on Netflix for Indian OTT viewers.
Surprisingly, Netflix has released Raid 2 in Hindi and two other foreign languages—Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish. Shockingly, the movie’s dubbed version is not available in many regional Indian languages such as Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, or Malayalam. It’s clearly a mistake to overlook local language options for a film aiming to connect with people across India; it shows a misjudgment of what audiences truly want.
Another interesting point is that subtitles for Raid 2 are available in several foreign languages, including Arabic, Thai, Chinese, Portuguese, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Indonesian, and more, but not in local Indian languages.
Releasing the movie in Portuguese and Spanish makes sense as Netflix looks to expand the sequel’s reach into international territories. But ignoring the local audience in India doesn’t make any sense.
While Hindi is a widely spoken language in India, a significant portion of the population in South India and other regions primarily consumes content in their native languages.
This could make Netflix subscribers in South India, who might be eager to watch a popular Bollywood film like Raid 2, feel overlooked or underserved. While international expansion is valid, neglecting the home market’s linguistic diversity can be seen as a strategic misstep. Moreover, this strategy could also adversely impact the movie’s viewership. Netflix has yet to issue an official statement about this scenario. Stay tuned for more updates.