'Dhamaka' in top 5 of most-watched non-English films on Netflix
Kartik Aaryan took on a role like never before in Ram Madhvani's thriller Dhamaka. Tailor-made for Netflix, the time-ticking Hindi movie premiered on November 19, garnering a handsome rating on IMDb (Internet Movie Database). Now, data from the streamer shows that the film has soared in terms of global viewership too. It was apparently the fifth most-watched non-English film on the platform this week!
Why does it matter?
With OTT content establishing itself as a mainstream source of entertainment in the country in the past two years, Netflix has strong competition from other streamers. In this situation, the digital giant had high hopes pinned on Dhamaka. Reportedly, the only Hindi feature-film premiere that brought in formidable viewership for Netflix this year was Kriti Sanon's Mimi. Thus, there was a lot at stake.
People spent 4.2 million hours watching 'Dhamaka' this week
Coming to the numbers, the Global site of Netflix Top 10, a new website launched by the streamer, states that users have spent over 4.2 million hours watching Dhamaka. This time period covers a week's time, from November 15 to November 21. Notably, Dhamaka was released on November 19, so the numbers are only from three days. It was a bumper premiere indeed!
'Meenakshi Sundareshwar' has also made it to the most-watched list
Just Short of Perfect (9.63mn hours), 7 Prisoners (9.57mn), Yara (5.66mn), and Prayers for the Stolen (4.7mn) complete the top 5. Another high-profile Hindi movie, Meenakshi Sundareshwar, has made it to the top 10. Released on November 5, the Sanya Malhotra and Abhimanyu Dassani-led venture has raked in 1.9mn hours of viewing time this week and is placed 10th in the list.
'Dhamaka' has failed to cast its magic on critics though
Let's concentrate on the RSVP production again. Although the film boasts a rating of 8.1/10 on IMDb, the movie failed to impress critics. In our review, we noted how the execution was disappointing. Something similar had happened with Netflix's English-language endeavor Red Notice too. Even though it was lambasted by critics, the heist film is on road to becoming the service's biggest film yet.
