Coronavirus pandemic, definitely, caused a lot of trouble to almost each and every sector and film industry too dragged in the flow. Though Bollywood closed down, OTT (Over The Top) served as a blessing for the movies and their makers. Below is the list of a few Bollywood movies on OTT that made their first exclusive entry in the field of OTT:
Gulabo Sitabo
The first-ever release of an independent Bollywood movie on OTT and not cinemas starrs Ayushmann Khurana and Amitabh Bachchan in the lead roles. The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on 20th June 2020. A 78-year landlord who is very fond of his old mansion and would move the world for this ancient house. To increase his troubles, he has a tenant who isn’t ready to move despite the landlord’s continuous attempts. This story of petty fights makes the whole movie interesting and worth watching. Directed by Shoojit Sircar, many critics appreciated the film. The film got delayed multiple times for its theatrical release but it was finally released on the OTT.
Shakuntala Devi
Directed by Anu Menon, this is one of the most brilliant biographies. Based on the real-life story of the famous mathematician Shakuntala Devi, every one defined her as a human computer. The film features Vidya Balan as the protagonist with Sanya Malhotra in the supporting role. It was released on 31st July 2020 on Amazon Prime Video. The story of this great mathematician showcases the way she solved huge problems in just a few seconds, which even made her reach The Guinness Book of Records.
Her unique and rare ability made her popular worldwide, meanwhile, she falls in love with someone who later leaves her and their girl child. According to the movie, Shakuntala disrespects her mother due to the fame and money she earns, which got into her mind. Life teaches her the same thing when her own child disrespects her and leaves her. By the end, Shakuntala reunites with her child when she uses a trick so that she gets a chance to talk to her. Vidya even got nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 2021.
Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl
Another real-life story in line with the previous one and another super amazing story too. This is a story of the former Air Force pilot, who is one of the first women IAF pilots to fly a helicopter during the Kargil War in 1999. The film features Janhvi Kapoor in the role of Gunjan Saxena with Pankaj Tripathi acting as her father and Angad Bedi as her brother. The movie, directed by Sharan Sharma released on 12th August 2020 on Netflix.
Gunjan faced several criticisms on her first day of work, which was all dominated by male crew members. Despite various oppositions, she never gave up on her dream and remained with the crew. The film got nominated for various awards in Filmfare Awards. This amazing Biopic is an inspiration in itself for all the women out there. Gunjan Saxena created her mark in history by going against the stereotypical society and taking a revolutionary step. Gunjan remained in service for 18 years from 1996 to 2004. There were various allegations against the film that it displayed a few things that are not true and gave a false picture.
Dil Bechara
Close to the hearts of many, the film is very emotional as it is the last film of the very talented Sushant Singh Rajput. The movie is based on a Hollywood film and novel “The Fault In Our Stars”. It portrays the story of two individuals suffering from a terminal illness, who fall in love with each other. They both spent the last days of her together so that they can make the best out of their lives.
Sushant lost his life in June 2020 during the lockdown due to suicide. He hung himself in his apartment, the reason of which is ambiguous. Ironically, Sushant lost his life in the film and the real world too. Sanjana Sanghi made her debut in the last film of Sushant. The movie came out on the 24th of July, 2020 on Disney+ Hotstar, directed by Mukesh Chhabra. The film was an emotional setback for all the fans because it brought the saddest tears out of Sushant’s fans’ hearts. The heartbreaking scenes left everyone in tears. The actor died just 40 days before the release of this movie. In honour of this lovely actor, the movie was available to everyone on Disney+ Hotstar without any subscription.
Sadak 2
The sequel to the successful film “Sadak” launched on Disney+ Hotstar on 28th August 2020. It was a comeback for the director Mahesh Bhatt, who directed this film. Starring Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt, the film received mixed reviews from the critics. Even the trailer of this movie became the most disliked video on Youtube and the film became one of the worst Bollywood movies on OTT. People even called the movie, ‘a waste of data’ and several other harsh comments.
It is one of the lowest-rated films on IMDb with a rating of 1.1. One of the reasons for such a flop could be Nepotism that trended during that period because of the death of Sushant. The film showcases a story of a girl who is on a mission to expose a godman, who she believed was the cause of her mother’s death and meanwhile, she meets Vishal. The movie also faced criticisms regarding hurting Hindu sentiments because of the use of Kailash Mansarovar in the poster.
Laxmii
This film is a Hindi remake of the Telugu film “Kanchana”. This movie named “Laxmmi Bomb” changed to “Laxmii”. Directed by Raghava Lawrence, this film starrs Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani in the lead roles. For hurting religious sentiments, various groups protested for the film’s title, and therefore, renamed it. On Disney+ Hotstar, the movie released on the 9th of November, 2020. A man visits his in-laws and goes to the ground nearby wherein a spirit of a transgender possesses the ground. The spirit acquires his body and he starts behaving like one sometimes. It became the first big-budget movie to release on a video streaming platform. Following the supernatural practices in the house, they perform various rites and rituals over there.
Ludo
A fusion of four different story tales launched on Netflix on the occasion of Diwali on 12th November 2020. Directed by Anurag Basu, the story casts Pankaj Tripathi, Rohit Saraf, Abhishek Bachchan, Sanya Malhotra, Rajkumar Rao, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Pearle Maaney, Aditya Roy Kapoor and many others.
There are four aspects of this story, each represented by the four colours of Ludo. The red colour represents a mafia don who wants to settle the old matters with his former accompaniment. The yellow colour represents the story of a man and his girlfriend, whose affair has been recorded in a video and uploaded the same on the Internet. Story of a man, who is from a small town and a nurse who founds the treasure of people from red colour forms the blue colour. The green side represents the story of a woman who seeks help from a man to save her husband from the police.
All these stories mix up with one another and they constantly run towards some or the other problem. Overall, the film was a mixed bag with some amazing performances by awesome actors. Previously the film’s release delayed as it clashed with another movie “Chhalaang” released on Amazon Prime Video.
Khuda Haafiz
An action-thriller directed by Faruk Kabir starrs Vidyut Jammwal and Shivaleeka Oberoi. Inspired by true events, the film also made its appearance on OTT on 14th August 2020. Disney+ Hotstar acquired the digital rights for streaming this movie. A newly married couple’s life pushes them into a dilemma when one of them falls into a deep trouble. The husband fights against time to rescue his kidnapped wife from a foreign land. Khuda Haafiz: Chapter 2 – Agni Pariksha will be soon released as a sequel to the previous version. The critics praised Vidyut’s acting in the film and its story, supported by other critics too.
Coolie No.1
Again a remake of the superhit film from 1995 with the same title, which itself was a remake of a Tamil film “Chinna Mapillai”. The cast of this movie includes the Gen Z actors Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan with Paresh Rawal. The film was scheduled for release on 1st May 2020 but due to multiple lockdowns, it was postponed to 25th December 2020 on the occasion of Christmas on Amazon Prime Video and now, it is available on Disney+ Hotstar too. The direction of this film under the actor’s father David Dhawan made the film quite entertaining. A pandit tries to teach a lesson to a rich businessman because he insulted the pandit. The pandit made the businessman’s daughter marry a coolie pretending to be a millionaire.
Now without compromising even an inch of your comfort, watch these Bollywood movies on OTT at your own convenience on your own sofa with your very own popcorn tub. Happy Weekend with these rocking Bollywood movies on OTT!
Also Read: https://rbollywood.com/successful-youtubers-that-made-their-way-to-bollywood-cinema/