Netflix India premiered its Indian original film ‘Jaadugar’ this week on July 15. The Jitendra Kumar starrer was one of the most keenly awaited films of recent times, given the leading man’s stellar acting abilities and pedigree; and the fact that it came from two leading erstwhile members of The Viral Fever, Sameer Saxena and Biswapati Sarkar.
However, Jaadugar failed to meet expectations, and spectacularly at that. Let’s just say, it is one of the most boring and shoddily written films of recent times. And yes, even by Netflix India standards; standards it set when it gave the go-ahead to turkeys like Mrs Serial Killer and Bard Of Blood. To put it succinctly, Jaadugar is a film that had no business getting made – not even at a smaller OTT platform, let alone at the global streaming giant, Netflix.
At a time when the online entertainment space in India is growing exponentially, and audiences are being treated to high quality web series, it’s quite surprising that Netflix would want to take audiences for granted by coming up with ill-conceived, meaningless films such as Jaadugar.
Netflix India began magnificently with shows such as Sacred Games, Delhi Crime and Lust Stories. Soon after, however, it seemed to have lost the plot with a succession of mediocre shows and films. The OTT platform seems to have sacrificed quality at the altar of quantity. Yes, in their misplaced quest for releasing a multitude of content, Netflix has failed to pay heed to the holy grail of entertainment success – high quality, compelling content that is worth its while.
It’s not that Netflix is doing excellently at present. It is losing subscriptions by the millions. Its stock price has taken a massive hit, its revenues are nowhere near expected, and it has been compelled to lay off thousands of employees. Poor content in a huge market such as India will only serve to make matters worse.
It’s time the powers that be at Netflix India pull up their socks and keep a sharp eye on the quality of the content they’re churning out with such astonishing frequency. Strict quality control at Netflix India is the need of the hour, without worrying about rubbing influential entertainment honchos the wrong way. Netflix needs to seriously rethink its India content strategy – soon, and with a firm will to stem the duds in the bud.