OTT platform Jio Cinema has been beautifully and aggressively reinventing its content portfolio: right from streaming the massively popular IPL 2023 cricket tournament for free to acquiring the premium HBO titles like ‘Succession’ and ‘House of the Dragon’, etc. But unlike how May turned out to be a blockbuster month for the OTT giant, the same cannot be said about June. Let’s see how many of the titles which streamed during the month of June clicked with the audience.
We have compiled a list of the popular Indian titles which were released on Jio Cinema in June along with their ‘Hit’, ‘Miss’ or ‘Super-Hit’ status. ‘Hit’ implies good title acquisition, ‘Miss’ signifies a not-so-good title acquisition, and ‘Super-Hit’ implies a highly successful title acquisition by Jio Cinema (one bonus ‘Hit’ point given for ‘Super-Hit’ titles with total no. of titles remaining as per actual).
Sergeant (Film, Direct-to-OTT) – Miss
Aseq (Film, Direct-to-OTT) – Miss
I Love You (Film, Direct-to-OTT) – Miss
Rafuchakkar (Web Series) – Hit
Gulaam Chor (Film, Direct-to-OTT) – Miss
Bloody Daddy (Film, Direct-to-OTT) – Hit
UP65 (Web Series) – Miss
Godavari (Film, Licensed) – Hit
Mumbaikar (Film, Direct-to-OTT) – Miss
Asur Season-2 (Web Series) – Hit
Licensed Films
In June 2023, there was just one prominent licensed film title – the Marathi language drama ‘Godavari’. Helmed by Nikhil Mahajan and set in banks of the Godavari River, the movie is about a family dealing with death. Although the film is relatively offbeat with a niche target audience, it still found some takers and appreciation because of its positive reviews following its theatrical release last year. And that’s why we have given it a ‘Hit’ status.
Web Series
On the web series front, the month of June for Jio Cinema was decent but not very good. Three shows namely ‘Rafuchakkar’, ‘UP65’, and the eagerly anticipated ‘Asur Season-2’ were released during the period.
Out of these three, the second season of the mythological forensic thriller ‘Asur’ was watched by a significant segment of OTT viewers. The show received decent audience feedback, but some critics thought that it was somewhat inferior compared to the first season. The next show ‘Rafuchakkar’ starring Maniesh Paul in a never-seen-before avatar received mixed response from OTT viewers. But Manish Paul’s performance was appreciated by many and because of the same reason, it has just somehow managed to secure a ‘Hit’ status. The last title ‘UP65’ failed to attract an audience in big numbers and also couldn’t garner positive reviews from several critics and viewers.
Direct-to-OTT Films / Others
As we have mentioned above, there were several licensed film titles which started streaming on Jio Cinema during the month of June. However, just one movie – Shahid Kapoor’s action thriller ‘Bloody Daddy’ managed to click with the audience despite receiving mixed reviews from critics. Still, many fans found it to be an over-the-top yet fun-filled venture.
Vijay Sethupathi and Vikrant Massey starrer action thriller film ‘Mumbaikar’ was a big disappointment for movie buffs. In spite of the insanely talented cast also including actors like Ranvir Shorey and Sanjay Mishra, the film received an insipid response.
Besides, other direct-to-OTT releases like ‘Sergeant’, ‘Aseq’, and ‘I Love You’ failed to impress the streaming audience during the month. It can be said that the month of June was a disappointing downgrade from last month, which boasted of hit and super-hit titles like ‘Vikram Vedha’, ‘Bhediya’, and the massively popular T20 IPL 2023 cricket tournament.
So, overall, there were four ‘Hits’, six ‘Misses’, and no ‘Super-Hit’ titles for Jio Cinema for the month of June 2023. And that’s the reason we have called the month of June a disappointing downgrade for the OTT platform.
Jio Cinema June 2023 Success Score = 40% = 40/100