Kartik Aryan’ OTT Dhamaka Outperforms Salman & John’s BigScreen Firecrackers

You won’t hear too many trade pundits  admitting it on record. But the fact is, Ram Madhvani’s made-for-Netflix special Dhamaka has garnered the  kind of  instant blockbuster status that big-screen  superstars can no  longer dream of.

Going to  No 1  on the day it started streaming,  the viewership for Dhamaka has  grown exponentially , crossing the viewership of  all  previous premiers in Netflix featuring A-list superstars.

While no one from Netflix is willing to go on-record to say this, a source close to the project reveals Dhamaka has shown an  “insane growth” ever since  it began steaming on November 19.

“Even when two big-screen  ventures Antim: The Final Truth and  Satyameva Jayate 2 with A-listers  Salman Khan and John Abraham in the lead, released  the following week on November 26,Dhamaka remained steadfast in its supremacy.” says  a  source very close  to the project.

Film producer and trade expert Girish  Johar admits Dhamaka outraced the two  big-screen  blockbusters that  followed.  “Of the three  releases, Dhamaka on OTT  and two  theatrical releases Satyameva Jayate 2 and Antim that followed,   the reviews, word of mouth and  feedback of Dhamaka were phenomenal. With the onset of OTTs the audiences are spoilt with choices ;they are consuming better and  better content with each passing day. They are exposed to rich content from all across.”

Johar feels there is no room for lazy content  on OTT. “Dhamaka worked so  well because of its topnotch production  values. Mediocrity                                                                                                                                                                             is not the way forward  and   the taste patterns are very dynamic. Also,  Kartik Aaryan’s performance was lauded all across   and  he carried the tense thriller  all alone brilliantly. He is a growing star with a growing fan-base all across and  is also being loved by his fans of all ages.”

However Maharashtra’s cinema exhibitor  Akshay Rathi doesn’t feel Dhamaka on  OTT out-performed  the mega-theatre release  in the last two weeks of November. “Comparing the performance  of Dhamaka on OTT with  Satyameva  Jayate 2 and  Antim: the  Final Truth in movie theatres, is like comparing apples to  oranges. Dhamaka was a film  that  audiences watched free of cost in the comforts of their homes.On the other hand the effort to bring audiences in to see Satyameva Jayate 2  and Antim in theatres was  a tough  upward climb. The price of one  ticket in a movie theatre is what  you pay for one year’s subscription of Netflix. It is therefore fundamentally wrong to compare them. Also, there are no clear  benchmarks  for the success  of film in OTT. Performance reports are based on comments on social media which can easily be manipulated by agencies .At  a  time  when theatres are bringing back  the audience, or at least trying to, Sooryvanshi, Satyameva Jayate  and  Antim must be patted  on  the back.”