‘Biker’ Might Prove the Taste Of India On Netflix

A few years ago, an OTT release was a second chance. Today, it’s not that simple. Even digital platforms are no longer a guaranteed validation for films that didn’t do well at the box office, forget about blockbuster movies. Because films that underperform in theatres are struggling to find traction on OTT, too. The audience isn’t just watching anything that’s put on OTT, but choosing very selectively.

And that’s where Sharwanand’s Biker enters the picture. Positioned as India’s first motocross-based film, starring Sharwanand, former hero Rajasekhar and Malvika Nair, and directed by Loser webseries fame director Abhishek Reddy, Biker was released on April 3rd and appreciated by one section of the audience. Even Sharwa went to theatres and fell on the floor, doing a ‘sashtanga namaskaram’ to the silver screen. However, the film didn’t end up as a breakout, though it was not ignored. The film grossed nearly ₹18 crores (₹8 crores share),

Now that the film is streaming on Netflix in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam, the game changes completely. Let's set aside the regional response the film was looking forward to; it’s now going for a big pan-India test. Because if Biker clicks now on OTT, it doesn’t just mean the film worked. It means the theme worked. It means audiences across languages are open to something like this, coming from India. And that’s exactly what the makers are betting on.

Sports dramas, when mixed with strong emotional arcs, tend to perform better on OTT than in theatres. So we have to see if Biker will give more happiness to Sharwanand and Sharwa on Netflix than in theatres. With OTT audiences also becoming very choosy these days, we have to see how it ends for Biker.

OTT audiences today are even tougher than theatre audiences. There’s no ticket price, but there’s even less patience. If the first 20 minutes don’t hold, the film is gone with a click.