Beast starring Thalapathy Vijay debuted on Netflix on the 11th of May. Although it was neither a big success nor a great film, Thalapathy fans were eagerly waiting for its OTT release.
On the other hand, Gangubai Kathiawadi came to Netflix on the 26th of April and since then it is ruling the charts. Interestingly, Alia Bhatt’s Gangubai Kathiawadi is the most successful Indian film on Netflix ever. Not only did it secure the Number One position globally, but it was also the first Indian movie to do so.
So the most important question is, has Beast/Raw tamed the Gangubai Kathiawadi tsunami?
The direct answer is YES but actually NO.
What does it mean though? Let’s find out.
Let’s look at the Indian viewing chart of last week.
Raw (Beast in Hindi audio) tops the chart while Beast in original Tamil secured the second spot. Even Thar was viewed more than Gangubai Kathiawadi. So you must be thinking that Thalapathy Vijay’s latest has finally tamed the monopoly of Gangubai Kathiawadi on Netflix.
But hold on, there is more to it.
This is the global chart where the top 10 most-watched non-English films are listed. Here Gangubai Kathiawadi stills dons the third spot just like last week but with even more views.
Even if you add the watch hours of Beast and Raw (Beast in Hindi) then they don’t come close to Gangubai Kathiawadi.
It clearly means that Gangubai Kathiawadi has emerged as the global face of Indian cinema on Netflix. Maintaining itself in the top three position for three weeks continuously is a big achievement for any movie and is unprecedented for any Indian film. Also, it showed significant improvement in the watch hours from last week.
Thus Beast/Raw was viewed most in India but globally Gangubai Kathiawadi is still the champion.