Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan's Bawaal, which was dubbed insensitive and tone-deaf for its references to Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust, was the most-watched direct-to-OTT Bollywood film in 2023.
The media consulting firm Ormax Media released its year-ender report titled Streaming Originals in India: The 2023 Story on Tuesday, January 16. The report lists the most-watched web shows, international shows, international films, and Hindi films that premiered on different OTT platforms in India.
Surprisingly, the most-watched direct-to-OTT Hindi film in 2023 was Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan-starrer controversial film Bawaal. The romantic drama was dubbed insensitive and tone-deaf for its references to Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust, the genocide of European Jews during the World War II. The Prime Video film, directed by Nitesh Tiwari of Dangal and Chhichhore fame, was also called out by the Israeli embassy in India. As per the Ormax report, Bawaal has been watched by 21.2 million people and is the most-watched direct-to-OTT Hindi film.
Shahid Kapoor's action thriller Bloody Daddy and Manoj Bajpayee and Sharmila Tagore-starrer family drama Gulmohar take the next two spots in the list with the viewership of 17 million and 16.3 million, respectively. The former premiered on JioCinema, while the latter came out on Disney+ Hotstar last year.
Next entry on the list is another Disney+ Hotstar film, Tumse Na Ho Payega. The comedy drama, starring Ishwak Singh, Mahima Makwana, Gaurav Pandey, and Gurpreet Saini, garnered 14.3 million views. Tara Sutaria's survival thriller Apurva, which also premiered on Disney+ Hotstar, takes the fifth spot with 12.6 million views.
Sidharth Malhotra's spy thriller Mission Majnu, which premiered on Netflix, is the tenth most-watched direct-to-OTT film in 2023 with 10.8 million views. Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda, and Khushi Kapoor's debut film The Archies, which had its streaming premiere on Netflix, is thirteenth on the list with 10 million views. Another Netflix film Lust Stories 2 raked in 9.8 million views and is on the fifteenth spot in the list.
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 "Most-watched Hindi film on OTT in 2023/Screengrab")
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