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NEW DELHI: Indian films which could not manage wide theatrical release in domestic and international territories, thanks to pandemic-led lockdowns over the last two years, are now finding an audience on over-the-top (OTT) video streaming platforms.
Sports drama ‘83 that had clocked in 3.1 million hours of viewing at last count and made it to Netflix’s top ten non-English films worldwide, found love in Africa, Kuwait, Sri Lanka and other countries after it premiered late March. On ZEE5, Salman Khan-starrer Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai and Telugu action drama Bangarraju won eyeballs in Australia, the US and United Arab Emirates. Media experts said most users turned to OTT platforms in the absence of other forms of entertainment and Indian diaspora tried to stay connected to their roots especially since they couldn’t travel home.
Some of these films saw their theatrical releases disrupted by different covid waves. While ’83 was released late December right before the third wave, Bangarraju saw only limited showcasing over the Pongal weekend in January when restrictions were being re-imposed. The world was still reeling under the impact of the second wave when Khan’s Radhe had released for Eid last year.
“Movies drive strong traction for us in global markets across both viewership and subscriptions. With the huge diaspora in the US, UK, UAE and multiple language affinities, we see a strong surge during new movie releases in these markets including for Bengali, Telugu, Punjabi, and Tamil titles," Archana Anand, chief business officer, ZEE5 Global, said.
Hindi and Punjabi films have driven strong surges especially in Canada and Australia, while Malayalam films have done particularly well in the Middle East, apart from Bollywood releases and Tamil movies, Anand said. The network has seen titles like Radhe, Bob Biswas, Antim: The Final Truth, and Rashmi Rocket in Hindi, along with Bangarraju, Republic, Rang De, Vilangu, Valimai and Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana from its regional portfolio perform well across global markets.
“With lockdowns in place across countries during the pandemic, audiences turned to OTT platforms to meet their entertainment needs. For much of the Indian and South Asian diaspora, the inability to travel home during the period also saw them turning to OTT platforms as they felt an increased need to stay connected to their roots and language," said Anand adding that the service saw a 60% uptick in new subscriptions over the pandemic thanks to new and old movie hits.
A senior executive at a streaming platform said OTT services have not only provided an additional platform for exhibition of films, in both good times and bad, but are also helping break many barriers in international markets through subtitles and dubbing. For example, licensed films including Sooryavanshi, Mimi, Doctor (Tamil), Thimmarusu (Telugu), Badhaai Do and ’83, have featured in the global Top 10 for non-English films on Netflix. Dulquer Salmaan’s Malayalam film Kurup has seen its dubbed Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam versions feature in the weekly top 10 films for India in December 2021.
Karan Taurani, senior vice-president at Elara Capital Ltd, said challenges with global or overseas audiences largely arise from the fact that there has only been traction for big-ticket, star-driven Indian films in international markets so far. “The global audience is very selective so it is hard for many stories to travel. The process has begun with hard-hitting long-format Indian web shows though," Taurani said, explaining the long road ahead for different genres of Indian films.