Is Aryan Khan’s Bads of Bollywood Overhyped?

There was all the hype on the day that Aryan Khan announced his directorial debut with Bads of Bollywood. Coming along with Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and boosting marketing-and-distribution power with Netflix, the series was set to be the touchstone of a new generation of Bollywood storytellers. Teaser trailers, star-studded events, and junkets built upon the already stratospheric expectations. But now that the show is on Netflix, the question arises: Did the numbers match the noise?

Not the Real Face of Viewership

Many allegations came up on the internet about Bads of Bollywood releasing over six million views; however, data verified by universities have given a more balanced perspective. According to Koimoi, during its first week on Netflix, it scored about 2.8 million views, thereby making it one of the top five Indian series in 2024-25, yet trailing some distance behind blockbusters like Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (4.5 million views), IC814: The Kandahar Hijack, and The Railway Men. Netflix is yet to publish official rankings while the supposed higher viewership baseline going around on the Internet has also remained unsupported in this public domain.

Measuring OTT Success Beyond the Conventional Way

To put it plainly, OTT serves quite differently to its members when measuring success. Unlike commercial releases, where box office earnings take precedence over everything else, OTT platforms measure total viewing hours, completion rate, retention across weeks, and regional reach in evaluating a show’s actual impact. A strong opening only can excite buzz, but sustained engagement equals true success on an OTT platform.

Bads of Bollywood: Good Start But Not a Superhit

But, yes, Aryan Khan’s directorial debut created some buzz-a healthy chunk of viewing figures-but certainly did not satisfy monumental hype. Thus, Bads of Bollywood falls into the realm of being relatively successful but not exactly a blockbuster. The show articulated one fresh truth of streaming: Hype could open doors, but story locks the audience in.

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