We’ve many times seen that certain good films don’t do well at the theatres, but they gain so much acceptance once it starts streaming. There are also certain exceptional cases where some films do open to negative reviews at the theatres but eventually go blockbuster at OTT platforms. One such film is Shamshera. The film theatrically released on 22nd July and It started streaming on Amazon Prime Video since August 20,2022.
The Ranbir Kapoor starrer film is the most watched Indian film on Prime Video this year so far. Damn right! Its viewership even crossed direct digital releases like Gehraiyaan on Prime. What is even more shocking is that, the film is a colossal theatrical disaster and was even panned by critics besides lead actors’ performance. But once it dropped on Amazon Prime, it hit records left, right and centre. Besides being the most watched Indian film on the streaming platform, Shamshera trended on Top 10 for around 35 days in almost 54 countries. Shamshera even bypassed films like Pushpa and KGF2 that hit box-office goldmine like no other. Samaritan is the most watched title this year on Amazon Prime Video followed by Thirteen Lives. Shamshera stands at 18th position overall in the ranking (#1 in Indian Movies). Neither Samrat Prithviraj nor Jayeshbhai Jordar even cracked the Top 20 Indian movies list.
Its quite a dichotomy that the film got trashed at the theatres but is indeed a popular title on streaming. There has to be something in the film that enlarged its viewership this hugely. What could possibly be the reason why the film has hit such huge numbers on the platform is a big question. Maybe people who didn’t watch it at the movies gave it a go on OTT. Or the lead actor’s fans chose to watch it before Brahmastra or people found the title itself interesting to try it out. Whatever be the reason, Shamshera’s success on streaming shows us a different picture. People still prefer to watch mainstream films on streaming given a choice, even if the content side takes a dip. Probably Amazon Prime’s 150 crore acquisition of the title really paid off. Stay tuned for more updates.