On repeat: Why audiences are coming back to big cinema hits on OTT

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Viewership for films that turn big hits at the box office often doesn’t end with their theatrical run. Appetite for repeat consumption on streaming platforms remains strong — even among those who have already watched the film in cinemas.According to media consulting firm Ormax, 65% of Dhurandhar’s audience on OTT had already watched the film in a theatre, pointing to a high correlation between theatrical and streaming performance of big-ticket Indian films.Industry experts say this could accelerate the trend of OTT platforms spending big bucks only to acquire major commercial hits, leaving small and mid-budget titles out in the cold.According to Ormax, while 21.2 million people watched Dhurandhar only in theatres, about 7.5 million watched it only on OTT.

However, there is a significant overlap — with 14 million viewers watching it both in theatres and on streaming.“For theatrical films that are high on likeability, the appetite for repeat consumption on streaming, after having watched the film already in theatres just a few weeks ago, is very high. This explains why there is very high correlation between theatrical and streaming performance of several big-ticket Indian films, especially the ones that manage to get audience approval,” Ormax said in a blog.Films like Laapata Ladies and Haq are rare exceptions — high-likeability films that didn't perform too well theatrically, but went on to do very well on streaming, it added.The Ormax findings reflect a clear shift — audiences are no longer choosing between theatrical and OTT; they are engaging with both in complementary ways, said Bhuvanesh Mendiratta, managing director, Miraj Entertainment Ltd.“However, the theatrical experience