Many of the movies that are regarded as masterpieces today never made money when they were first released, despite this little-known truth. Among them are films like Andaz Apna Apna (1994) and Mera Naam Joker (1970). These masterpieces in the 2020s would be the films that were a box office disaster but found immense popularity when released on (OTT) platforms.
Laal Singh Chaddha
The largest film that falls into this category is Advait Chandan’s 2022 Hindi version of Laal Singh Chaddha, which is a Forrest Gump movie. Amidst calls to boycott Bollywood, the film, starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor, was released during a difficult period. However, viewers praised it greatly when it debuted on Netflix India later in the year.
An Action Hero
Ayushmann Khurrana played an action star trapped in a real-life chase by a member of his audience in Anirudh Iyer’s action film An Action Hero, prior to delivering a genuine box office blockbuster with Dream Girl 2. The movie received fantastic reviews upon its Netflix India premiere, despite not doing well at the box office.
Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar
With Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra in the lead roles, Dibakar Banerjee’s final film was released just as theaters were beginning to accept theatrical releases following the lockdown. It found a home on Prime Video India in March 2021 after an extremely short run, where it received the critical acclaim it deserved.
Sonchiriya
Before the pandemic in 2019, Abhishek Chaubey’s thoughtful dacoit drama starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, and Manoj Bajpayee among others was released, but it wasn’t a movie office hit. Nevertheless, ZEE5 accepted it, and its popularity grew after the actor who played the lead role passed away.
Dhak Dhak
In Tarun Dudeja’s road movie from the previous year, four women of different ages and backgrounds rode motorcycles to Ladkah. Co-producer Taapsee Pannu had explained that the studio’s decision to release the movie in theaters as part of its agreement with Netflix India was merely a formality, given that the trailer was only released four days prior to the film’s premiere. Dhak Dhak was not well received in theaters but finally gained popularity on OTT.
