'Dhamaka' and 'Bunty aur Babli 2' to put coexistence of OTT and big screen releases to the test

Actor Kartik Aaryan in 'Dhamaka'. The film was put together in just 10 days last December. (Image: screen grab)

Okay, so the job has been done by Sooryavanshi. It has brought people back into theatres. The film is now on course to go past the Rs175 crore mark. Now it’s time to look at the upcoming releases: Kartik Aaryan's Dhamaka will release on Netflix and Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji's Bunty aur Babli 2 in theatres on Friday.

This is going to be a litmus test for all involved. While Dhamaka will offer insights into how audiences are reacting to OTT releases now that theatres are open, Bunty aur Babli 2 will test the readiness of audiences to keep coming theatres after Sooryavanshi.

Best-case scenario? A winning run for both Dhamaka and Bunty aur Babli 2 as that would signify loud and clear that both mediums can comfortably co-exist.

Let's talk about Dhamaka first.

Dhamaka is the first made-for-OTT film with a major star front-lining it. The last 20 months have seen quite a few OTT big stars - Akshay Kumar (Laxmii), Salman Khan (Radhe - Your Most Wanted Bhai), Ajay Devgn (Bhuj: The Pride of India), Varun Dhawan (Coolie No. 1), Ayushmann Khurrana (Gulabo Sitabo), Sidharth Malhotra (Shershaah), Abhishek Bachchan (The Big Bull), Vidya Balan (Sherni, Shakuntala Devi), Janhvi Kapoor (Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl), and many others.

Also read: Sidharth Malhotra on 'Shershaah': 'I Felt This Could Very Well Be My Family'

However, each one of these films was originally meant for a theatrical release and later decided for an OTT premiere. In that respect, Kartik Aaryan is the first major star who actually stuck his neck out and took a decision to make a film which is going to be an OTT original.

Also read: Kartik Aaryan makes a killing with 'Dhamaka', is paid Rs 20 crore for 10 days of work

It was a brave step indeed because the film was put together entirely during pandemic last December, and that too in a record time of 10 days. When most of the stars and superstars were reluctant to get back to the sets, Kartik Aaryan took the plunge to green-light Dhamaka and shot this intense film with Ram Madhvani.

Now that the film is set to release on November 19, one expects some real 'dhamaka' on Netflix - the subject of the film, terrorism, has traditionally done well in Bollywood. Moreover, over the years, Kartik Aaryan's fans have loved him for his lover boy image (Pyaar Ka Punchnama) and with him being presented in a new light here, it could all be a revelation.

As for theatres, there is Bunty aur Babli 2, which is the first major release from Yash Raj Films (YRF) two years since War (October 2019). Despite the temptations, Aditya Chopra chose to not release the film straight-to-OTT - YRF's much delayed film Sandeep aur Pinky Faraar didn't do well in theatres earlier this year but is now considered a cult film post its digital release. However with Bunty aur Babli 2, YRF is definitely looking at making good money at the box office also.

The sequel to the much-loved Bunty aur Babli has Saif Ali Khan starring against Rani Mukerji - a strange decision since Abhishek Bachchan made a great impression in the first part. While one waits to see if there is any justification provided around this in the film, the presence of Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh has brought in a new dimension to this film about two con couples set to strike - again.

The first challenge for Bunty aur Babli 2 would be to at least match the second Friday numbers of Sooryavanshi (Rs6.83 crore) on its first day. Ideally, a double digit opening would have been tremendous. But then that would be asking too much from the film which is expected to work mainly on word of mouth. However, as long as it can bring in at least Rs6.83 crore on its first day, it would be a win in itself as that would be the best first day collections for Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji in a really long time.

One just hopes that the 'content' of Dhamaka and Bunty aur Babli 2 works since audiences do have the 'intent' to watch films. As long as that works out, it would be continuation of happy times at theatres as well as the OTT medium.