Wanted To Go Global, Ended Up With Low Buzz On Local Level; Bawaal And Prime Video’s Ambitious Downfall —
%20100vw,%20950px%22/>Varun%20Dhawan%20and%20Janhvi%20Kapoor%E2%80%99s%20Bawaal%20serves%20as%20a%20compelling%20case%20study%20on%20how%20not%20to%20impede%20the%20progress%20of%20a%20project.%20Nitesh%20Tiwari%20and%20Sajid%20Nadiadwala%20initially%20announced%20Bawaal%E2%80%99s%20theatrical%20release,%20only%20to%20later%20opt%20for%20a%20direct%20OTT%20release.%20This%20deviation%20from%20the%20norm%20is%20unprecedented%20for%20a%20Bollywood%20film%20produced%20by%20a%20major%20production%20house,%20unless%20there%20are%20pandemic-related%20restrictions.</p>%0A<p>Fans%20expressed%20their%20dissatisfaction%20with%20the%20decision%20to%20release%20Bawaal%20directly%20on%20OTT%20platforms,%20and%20their%20discontent%20flooded%20Twitter.%20In%20an%20attempt%20to%20counter%20the%20negative%20sentiment,%20Prime%20Video%20attempted%20to%20generate%20hype%20around%20the%20film%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%9Cglobal%E2%80%9D%20reach.%20However,%20given%20that%20every%20Prime%20Video%20project%20is%20released%20in%20240%20countries,%20the%20claim%20of%20%E2%80%9Cgoing%20global%E2%80%9D%20seems%20rather%20unremarkable.<img%20decoding=)
Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor’s Bawaal is a new case study on how not to drag the project down. Nitesh Tiwari and Sajid Nadiadwala announced Bawaal’s theatrical release when they began the project. However, by the time they were close to completing what they had made, they decided to go for a direct OTT release. This hasn’t happened for any Bollywood movie made on a moderate budget by a big production house, unless there were Pandemic restrictions.
Fans were unhappy with the decision of direct OTT release, and Twitter was flooded with their outbursts. Prime Video tried to cover the negativity by creating hype around “Bawaal goes Global”. Every Prime Video project releases in 240 countries, so what’s new in that “going global”?
The team decided to go really global with promotional events in foreign countries instead of Bollywood’s den, Mumbai. The trailer was launched in Dubai, with no hype in India. The premiere was reportedly planned at the Eiffel Tower, which never happened. Where is the global hype they were screaming about?
Bawaal was scheduled to be released on July 28th, but was delayed by a week as this week there is no Bollywood biggie coming. Did it help? No. Bawaal releases with no Hype at ground level. Varun Dhawan’s recent ‘non-global’ projects like “Jug Jugg Jeeyo” and “Bhediya” had better buzz in India, and both were average grossers—even fans will accept that. You can’t even imagine where Bawaal would have landed if it had been released in cinemas.
After the low hype and literally no excitement in the pre-release scenario, Bawaal entered the post-release scenario. The final product got mixed reviews from the critics. Read our review HERE. Now, it is being slammed by netizens for its insensible portrayal of the Holocaust. Check out our article on the same HERE.
