OTT Round Up - Bhumi Pednekar's Durgamati Defies Trolls, Sanjay Dutt's Torbaaz Explores A Topical Issue, Shrikant Bashir Emerges As A Popcorn Show

Bhumi Pednekar starrer Durgamati is as 'masala' as it gets and has turned out to be a good proposition for Amazon Prime.

By Joginder Tuteja As is the trend with practically every Bollywood movie that releases today, Durgamati too was attacked by the trolls. This was not just at the time of its release but right at the time when the promo was announced. That has practically turned out to be a pass time with anyone and everyone with an internet connection, and as a result the whole trolling business has ceased to be taken seriously by those who indeed want to have their regular dose of entertainment. A few weeks back even Laxmmi was trolled, today it is Durgamati and tomorrow it would be Coolie No. 1. However, the fact also remains that despite all the negativity, there hasn't been an iota of difference that is made to the eventual run of these movies. Laxmmi has been garnering good eyeballs even a month after its release. Durgamati too has attracted good audience base for itself ever since its release and the numbers are still coming in. The same is going to hold true for Coolie No. 1 as well when it would be releasing this Christmas.

For Bhumi Pednekar, this is her second straight-to-OTT release this year after Dolly Kitty aur Woh Chamakte Sitare. While that was one as an offbeat film that arrived at Netflix, Durgamati is as 'masala' as it gets and has turned out to be a good proposition for Amazon Prime. Yes, the reviews for the film haven't really been great but then that is expected out of the genre and wouldn't have been much different had it released theatrically either. That said, for OTT audience, this one has turned out to be a nice time-pass entertainer and that's where the buck stops. Meanwhile, Sanjay Dutt's Torbaaz also arrived on Netflix and actually belongs to the kind of genre that is quite popular on the premium global streaming channel. Out there, quite a few films/series exploring the Middle East troubles have been unleashed in the past. Fauda stays on to be quite popular and recently Mosul released as well. Bollywood has seldom touched upon the geo-political theme and Kabir Khan is one of the select few to have chartered this territory [Kabul Express, New York, Phantom, Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai]. Now director Girish Malik has done that with Torbaaz and one has to agree with the fact that his heart is at the right place. He touches upon the theme of the rise of Afghani cricket in the time of war in the country, and how 'bat and ball' could defeat 'bombs'. That by itself lends a sense of emotional appeal since sports dramas do tend to work with the audiences if presented well. It is apparent though that the film took some time to be made and that is evident in some sort of discontinuity that is there in the narrative. A tighter narrative would have helped.

Sony LIV, which is still basking in the glory of Scam 1992 and has also seen good eyeballs for A Simple Murder, has now released another web series Shrikant Bashir. Starring new faces, this one is a popcorn entertainer featuring two cops with different ideologies and thought process. Easy on eyes and not too heavy on mind, this is actually a long drawn web series that lasts as good as 26 episodes. In fact it could well hold the record for being the longest Indian offering as each episode lasts around 30 minutes each, hence resulting in a 13 hour long show!

Meanwhile Richa Chaddha led Lahore Confidential, which was supposed to release on 11th December on ZEE5, has been pushed to February.

Coming soon

Though ZEE5 didn't have a new release last week, it would have one in days to come with Black Widows arriving on 18th December. A crime thriller featuring Mona Singh, Swastika Mukherjee and Shamita Shetty, this one is about these three women who hatch a plan to get rid of their husbands, only to see it backfire with one of them returning from the dead. An official adaptation of Finnish TV series Mustat Lesket, this one also features Raima Sen and Sharad Kelkar in key roles and could well be picked by those who love drama and suspense.

Release dates

Black Widows - 18th Dec 2020 - ZEE5 (Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal)