PremiumShahid Kapoor's Farzi is India's most-watched Hindi web show of 2023; Priyanka Chopra's Citadel tops international shows
Raj & DK's web series, Farzi, starring Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi, becomes the most-watched Hindi web series with more than 30 million viewership.
Last Updated: 05.44 PM, Jan 16, 2024
Shahid Kapoor made his OTT debut with Raj & DK's Farzi in 2023. The show, which also stars Vijay Sethupathi, Kay Kay Menon and Raashi Khanna, topped India's rankings as the most-watched Hindi web series of 2023. According to Ormax, the show garnered 37.1 million viewers and became the most-watched SVoD to reach over 30 mllions viewers.
The other shows of Prime Video that followed Farzi were Aspirants with 16.6 million, Dahaad with 16 million, Made in Heaven with 15.7 million, Mumbai Diaries with 15.2 million, and Bambai Meri Jaan with 14.5 million on Prime Video.
Whereas the top titles on Disney+ Hotstar are The Night Manager with 28.6 million, and Taaza Khabar with 23.5, Aarya with 17.2 million, Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo with 15.5 million, The Freelancer with 16.2 million, and The Trial with 15.6 million.
Also read: Farzi review: Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi's 'artistic' crime saga brings more pros than cons
The most-watched Indian unscripted series was Bigg Boss OTT Season 2, followed by Koffee with Karan Season 8, Temptation Island India, Dance+ Pro, and MasterChef India. The research claims that the top 10 list features a diverse range of sub-genres, including documentaries, TV series extensions, and task-based reality competitions. This suggests that the non-fiction category on OTT is now wider than it was a year or two ago.
With 17 million viewers, Prime Video's Citadel, starring Priyanka Chopra, surpassed other shows by more than 50% to become the most-watched international show of 2023. The only international movies on Netflix to reach over 8 million views were Extraction 2 and Heart of Stone.
Furthermore, with roughly 21.2 million views, Amazon Prime Video's Bawaal is the most-watched direct-to-OTT Hindi movie of 2023. Bloody Daddy follows with 17 million viewers. With five of its films—Jaane Jaan, The Archies, Lust Stories 2, Kho Gaye Hum Kahaan, and Khufiya— crossing the nine million audience threshold, Netflix had a good showing.
Farzi, starring Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi, has garnered 3.71 million viewers on Prime Video, demonstrating not only the show's appeal but also its influence over other OTT platforms. The diversity of content that is dominating the lists of the best OTT series and movies indicates that audiences enjoy a wide range of genres in entertainment. The popularity of these shows further demonstrates how much people enjoy watching content online and that OTT is the new movie theater for audiences.