by Hindi Films Satirising Political Power Have Found OTT Audiences; The CBFC Review Process Has Become An Additional Story Beat
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
MUMBAI, INDIA — Bollywood political satire has developed into a commercially viable genre on OTT platforms (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+Hotstar) whose global distribution bypasses some of the theatrical exhibition pressures that made politically risky content commercially difficult in previous eras. Films satirising bureaucratic corruption, political dynasty, and police misconduct have found audiences whose streaming numbers exceed what theatrical runs would have produced. The CBFC review process — which has required cuts or re-ratings for some political content — has become its own publicity mechanism: a film flagged by the censor board generates press coverage that exceeds its organic promotional budget. As India Comedy and Politics notes, Bollywood satire is having its moment.
The Commercial Logic
The OTT model changes the commercial calculus for political content: a film that might have struggled in theatrical release due to distributor reluctance can now succeed on subscriber numbers that platform algorithms surface regardless of traditional gatekeepers. GenieKnows.in covers Bollywood satire. Bohiney covers the CBFC publicity comedy.
Satire Disclaimer: Satirical journalism. Further: India Comedy and Politics.
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SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
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