‘Bad Newz’ has finally made its way to digital media after a successful theatrical run. Although for now it’s available on rent on Prime Video from today for ₹349 and if you don’t want to pay just wait for a few more weeks.
Most of us will prefer waiting than paying that premium an amount to watch ‘Bad Newz’ and for obvious reasons. Apparently, moviegoers have seen the film for lesser on big screen.
Then why does Prime Video charge so high for ‘Bad Newz’! Though it was commercially successful and had mostly positive to mixed reviews, it was still not a blockbuster or tentpole film like ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ which actually premiered directly on Prime Video rather than on rent first. (Probably because the Hindi version was coming to Netflix on the same day.)
While it’s the usual policy of Prime Video to first launch a film on rent and then after a couple of weeks make it available for streaming, it’s the high rate it has set for ‘Bad Newz’ which almost seems unfair for a mid budget film like that.
For those unaware, Ajay Devgn’s ‘Maidaan’ also had the same rent price of ₹349. But given the high budget of the film and after it bombed so bad at the box office, the makers probably had to do something to recover their money.
As far subscribers are concerned, they aren’t even interested in rent streaming, even if the price was as low as ₹49, and are happy to wait for rent free version howsoever long it takes. In fact it would be fascinating to know, if Prime Video ever unveils the data, how many people actually rent Indian movies in India.