Tag Archives: Kapoor & Sons

Streaming Video News: November 16, 2023

Leave a reply

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with today’s addition of Shilpa Shetty’s comedy Sukhee. The new Hindi series The Railway Men premieres on Saturday, November 18.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with today’s additions of Vicky Kaushal’s film The Great Indian Family, Boyz 4 (Marathi), Good Night (Tamil), and Tiger Nageswara Rao (Telugu). Yesterday, Prime added the Thai-English romantic comedy about drama at an Indian wedding, Congrats My Ex.

Checking the Amazon Prime catalog the other day, I found updated links for a bunch of Bollywood movies that expired a while ago. Here’s what’s available on Prime once more:

Finally, I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu with the straight-to-streaming debut of the thriller Apurva, starring Tara Sutaria. The Malayalam movie Kannur Squad is also now streaming (available in Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu as well).

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: February 21, 2023

Leave a reply

It’s last call for a bunch of Dharma Productions titles on Amazon Prime and Netflix, which will also lose a ton of Balaji Motion Pictures films this week as well. Here’s what’s leaving when, and why this may not be cause for panic.

First of all, thanks to CinemaRare on Twitter for listing the movies on the way out. One thing to notice immediately is that some of the titles on CinemaRare’s list are currently available in India but not the United States. This is because streaming rights are negotiated on a regional — and sometimes country-specific — basis between the company that owns the film’s rights and the streaming service interested in licensing them. These contracts cover a specified time period, after which the rights holder can renegotiate a new contract or shop their content elsewhere.

That’s likely what’s happening with Dharma and Balaji now. There’s every chance that they will simply sign a new contract with the same streaming companies for another few years. Balaji did that in late 2020 with Netflix. If that’s the case, then the titles may only be unavailable for a short window. I’m going to wait a week or two before removing the links to the expiring titles from my Netflix list and my Amazon Prime list just in case the films are renewed.

However, there is a chance that the Dharma Productions titles may not return to Netflix. Karan Johar and Dharma have a deal with Amazon Prime to bring their newest theatrical releases to Prime and to create new streaming content for the service. I won’t be shocked if they want to make the back catalog exclusive to Prime as well. If you subscribe to Netflix but not Prime, you may want to prioritize watching the expiring Dharma titles listed below this week.

Here are all of the Dharma Productions and Balaji Motion Pictures titles expiring from Netflix and Amazon Prime in the next week (note that the last day to watch is the day before the expiration date):

Expiring from Netflix February 27 (Balaji Motion Pictures titles)

Expiring from Netflix February 28 (Dharma Productions titles)

Expiring from Netflix March 1

Expiring from Amazon Prime February 27 (Dharma Productions titles)*

*The Amazon Prime Dharma list looks small by comparison to the Netflix list because some of the films are available on Eros Now instead of Prime, while others have already expired from Prime. Keeping track of all this stuff is no joke!

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: February 9, 2023

Leave a reply

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with today’s premiere of Raj & DK’s brand new series Farzi (“Fakes“), starring Shahid Kapoor in his streaming debut.

While weeding inactive links from my Amazon Prime list, I noticed that a handful of Dharma Productions movies are not currently available (at least not in the United States), including Kapoor & Sons, Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, Shaandaar, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. I’m assuming their absence just temporary, but we’ll have to wait and see.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu with the 2022 Telugu film Raajahyogam and the premiere of the Telugu series Hansika’s Love Shaadi Drama, which is also available in English, Hindi, and Tamil.

Earlier in the week, I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with the 2023 Tamil film Thunivu, which is also available in Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu (as “Tegimpu“). It sounds like we’ll be getting a new trailer for the Netflix Original series Rana Naidu next week, and hopefully a release date.

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: April 1, 2020

4 Replies

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with loads of newly added Indian content. In addition to the Hindi film Paharganj, the 2020 Tamil releases Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal and Sethum Aayiram Pon are now available for streaming. A bunch of animated kids movies and series in Hindi were also added: Akbar Birbal, Bal Ganesh, Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan, Mighty Raju Rio Calling, and Punyakoti (Sanskrit). But the big news is the new batch of movies from the Dharma Productions catalog that are now available for streaming:

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with lots of newly added Indian titles, including the following 2020 releases:

[Disclaimer: all of my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Bollywood Box Office: January 20-22, 2017

Leave a reply

Dangal turned in another stellar performance at the North American box office over the weekend. From January 20-22, 2017, it earned $193,045 from 62 theaters ($3,114 average), bringing its total earnings to $12,126,860.

Dangal looks nothing like a typical Bollywood movie in its fifth weekend in theaters in North America. Heck, the median opening weekend gross for Bollywood movies released here last year was less than $165,000! In 2016, twenty of the fifty Hindi films released here stuck around theaters for at least five weeks. The median number of theaters for a movie in its fifth weekend was six, the median gross earnings were $4,963, and the median per-theater average was $796. Dangal isn’t just crushing those median numbers, it’s leaps and bounds ahead of the movie with the second best fifth-weekend performance of 2016: Kapoor & Sons, which earned $28,377 from 36 theaters.

On the flip side, OK Jaanu just can’t find an audience here. In its second weekend, it earned $32,773 from 49 theaters ($669 average), bringing its total to $345,725. Raees and Kaabil will knock OK Jaanu out of most of those theaters come Wednesday. Too bad, ’cause it’s an okay film.

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Best Bollywood Movies of 2016

7 Replies

2016 was a darned good year for Hindi films, with positive reviews outnumbering negative reviews 26-22 at this site. Here’s my list of the Best Bollywood Movies of 2016. (Click on the title of each movie to read my original review.)

I should start by noting that Dhanak — which released theatrically in the United States and India in June, 2016 — would have made the list had it not already appeared on my Best of 2015 list. I watched it as part of the 2015 Chicago South Asian Film Festival.

As for the ten films that did make the 2016 list, two stood out for employing narrative structures that reflect their subject matter. Pink begins with the aftermath of a sexual assault, and not until the ending credits do we see the events as they really happened, echoing the “he said, she said” nature of many sexual assault cases. Waiting isn’t afraid to show its characters being bored, a feeling anyone who’s spent time in a hospital can relate to.

Neerja and Aligarh were emotional true stories featuring riveting performances by their lead actors: Sonam Kapoor and Manoj Bajpayee, respectively. Parched also earned a nod for the stellar performances by its four female co-leads.

Two films mastered genres with spotty track records in Bollywood: superhero movies and sex comedies. A Flying Jatt was a welcome nod to the colorful, optimistic type of superhero flick that has fallen out of favor in Hollywood in recent years, featuring an ordinary protagonist who discovers his inner hero (with a little divine assistance, providing a compelling subplot about religious identity). Unlike the two worst Bollywood movies of 2016 — the mean-spirited sex comedies Mastizaade and Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 — Brahman Naman is raunchy and hilarious, aiming most of its jokes at its hapless leading man.

South Korean films have inspired a number of Hindi thrillers in recent years (Rocky Handsome and Jazbaa, for instance), but the chilling Raman Raghav 2.0 is totally Indian, especially in regard to the way director Anurag Kashyap uses music to guide the audience through emotional moments.

The two films at the top of this year’s list earn their spots by tackling tough subjects in otherwise very commercial fare. Udta Punjab harnessed the star-power of Kareena Kapoor Khan, Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor, and Diljit Dosanjh to deftly address Punjab’s drug crisis and make it relevant to people not directly affected by it.

My favorite film of the year also featured a top-notch cast, including Alia Bhatt (again), Rishi Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, Fawad Khan, Rajat Kapoor, and Ratna Pathak. Kapoor & Sons bravely examines the secrets that family members keep from one another and the resentment that builds because of it, addressing issues like infidelity, parental favoritism, and homosexuality with sensitivity and compassion. That Kapoor & Sons also manages to be lots of fun just further cements it as my Best Bollywood Movie of 2016.

Check my Netflix list to see which of these films are available for streaming in the United States.

Kathy’s Best Bollywood Movies of 2016

  1. Kapoor & Sons — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
  2. Udta Punjab — Buy at Amazon
  3. Aligarh — Buy at Amazon
  4. Parched — Buy/rent at Amazon or iTunes
  5. Brahman Naman
  6. Raman Raghav 2.0 — Buy at Amazon
  7. A Flying Jatt
  8. Neerja — Buy at Amazon
  9. Waiting — Buy at Amazon
  10. Pink — Buy at Amazon

Previous Best Movies Lists

Streaming Video News: November 4, 2016

Leave a reply

I update my list of Bollywood movies free on Amazon Prime with major changes to its streaming catalog. Amazon eliminated 54 of the 71 Indian movies previously available, dashing my dreams for an Akshay Kumar Khiladi marathon. Five of the titles remaining are either documentaries or films in other Indian languages, which means there are exactly twelve Bollywood movies currently available. Check out my Amazon Prime page for the list of what’s left.

In happier streaming video news, Kapoor & Sons — my favorite Bollywood movie of the year so far — was just added to Eros Now. Yay!

Bollywood Box Office: May 20-22

Leave a reply

Last week, I wrote of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: “Even her lowest earning movies are average performers compared to the rest of the field.” That proved true once again with Sarbjit, which earned $130,199 from 83 theaters ($1,569 average) in North America during the weekend of May 20-22, 2016. It had the tenth best opening weekend of 2016 out of a field of 21 films.

While that opening weekend performance seems okay, by a number of metrics, it’s not. Sarbjit debuted a week after another biopic — the Emraan Hashmi-starrer Azhar — earned almost the exact same amount ($127,266) from 32 fewer theaters, with a per-screen average of $2,495. Sarbjit‘s 83 theaters represent the lowest number of opening weekend screens for one of Rai Bachchan’s movies since 2008’s Sarkar Raj opened in 70 North American theaters. More significantly, Sarbjit‘s opening weekend total is Rai Bachchan’s lowest since 2003’s Kuch Naa Kaho, and that film only released in 32 theaters.

There could be multiple contributing factors at play, such as audience fatigue from consecutive biopics, or the fact that Rai Bachchan became the face of promotions for a movie in which she doesn’t even play the title character, but there’s something more going on here. Rai Bachchan’s presence in a movie no longer guarantees a $1 million haul, the way it did during her heyday. Surely she’ll have better luck with her next project: director Karan Johar’s multi-starrer Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

In its second weekend, Azhar‘s business fell 85% from its opening weekend. Azhar earned $19,130 from 35 theaters ($547 average), bringing its total to $185,695.

Other Hindi movies still in North American theaters:

  • Baaghi: Week 4; $3,329 from six theaters; $555 average; $435,687 total
  • Kapoor & Sons: Week 10; $748 from one theater; $2,661,188 total
  • Fan: Week 6; $630 from two theaters; $315 average; $2,302,581 total
  • 1920 London: Week 3; $40 from one theater; $24,834 total

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Bollywood Box Office: May 13-15

Leave a reply

The biopic Azhar opened very well in North America, especially given the modest expectations governing its release here. During the weekend of May 13-15, 2016, Azhar earned $127,266 from 51 theaters ($2,495 average). While those may not seem like blockbuster numbers, consider this: 13 Hindi movies have released in more theaters than Azhar this year, but Azhar‘s opening weekend total ranks tenth for 2016, and its opening weekend average ranks seventh. No other Hindi movie to open in fewer than 80 theaters has averaged more than $2,000 per screen in its opening weekend. Of the ten other films released into fewer than 80 theaters this year, the second best opening weekend average is just $1,157 (Rocky Handsome, which opened in 74 theaters). Distributors were cautious given that Emraan Hashmi isn’t a huge draw here, but Azhar turned out to be a modest hit.

Other Hindi movies still showing in the United States and Canada:

  • Baaghi: Week 3; $19,342 from 27 theaters; $716 average; $423,418 total
  • Fan: Week 5; $5,018 from six theaters; $836 average; $2,301,200 total
  • 1920 London: Week 2; $984 from five theaters; $197 average; $24,084 total
  • Kapoor & Sons: Week 9; $727 from one theater; $2,660,140

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama

Bollywood Box Office: May 6-8

Leave a reply

1920 London‘s North American debut was predictably bad. From May 6-8, 2016, it earned $16,204 from 38 theaters ($426 average). Bollywood fans in the United States and Canada don’t have much appetite for horror films, particularly not when the biggest star in the cast is Sharman Joshi. However, just because fans here won’t go to the theater for horror films doesn’t mean they won’t watch them at all. I’d love to see some company revisit the idea of same-day rentals for movies that don’t merit a theatrical release in North America, especially for genre fare like this.

Baaghi‘s business fell by nearly 75% in its second weekend. It took in another $61,921 from 53 theaters ($1,168 average), bringing its total to $376,769.

In its fourth weekend, Fan earned $17,849 from 23 theaters ($776 average). Its total stands at $2,290,573. Fan should get a fifth weekend in a handful of theaters before its North American run comes to a close.

Kapoor & Sons hung around for an eighth weekend in one theater, earning $853 and bringing its total to $2,658,435.

Source: Rentrak, via Bollywood Hungama