PremiumMammootty’s CBI 5, Anoop Menon’s Twenty One Grams are the most-watched movies this week on Netflix and Hotstar
Both Malayalam films are investigative thrillers and began streaming on the respective OTT platforms last week
Last Updated: 03.02 PM, Jun 15, 2022
If there was any doubt whether Malayalam films still had potential to draw the audience on OTTs, a look at the most watched films on Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar in India this week would quickly allay those. Mammootty’s CBI 5: The Brain and Anoop Menon’s Twenty One Grams are trending on the two platforms since their OTT release last week.
What makes this even more surprising is that both the investigative thrillers had theatrical releases. Mammootty’s CBI 5: The Brain, which released on the streaming platform on June 12, is the most-watched film in India on Netflix. The movie has the megastar reprising his role as CBI Sethurama Iyer for the fifth time in 34 years. It is also the second Malayalam film to feature in the top 10 list along with Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Jana Gana Mana, which had also found a place in Netflix’s most-watched Non-English titles in the world last week.
CBI 5 broke into Netflix’s Global Top 10 Non-English titles this week, debuting at the 10th position with it being viewed for 1.7 million hours. It was also in top 10 list in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka and UAE.
Meanwhile, Twenty One Grams, which is directed by debutant Bibin Krishna, was one of this year’s sleeper hits that run for over a month in theatres when it released in March.
The movie, which dropped on Hotstar on June 10, overtook Mohanlal’s 12th Man to be the most-watched Malayalam film on the platform and was among the most-watched Non-English movies on the streaming service. Twenty One Grams revolves around the investigation of a double homicide that is taken up by crime branch officer Nanda Kishor, who is battling a personal tragedy. With every suspect, Nanda and his team learn more about the killer’s motive, but is eventually forced to choose between saving the suspects or catching the culprit.