Netflix’s analytics for last week are out, including Pakistan. Dhurandhar: The Revenge is at the top of the Pakistan charts. The OG Dhurandhar is at 7th, completing 16 weeks in the top 10.
Even the main Netflix handle (not Netflix India, but the one based in the US) has been openly promoting the release.
A lot of Pakistanis were not pleased with this and started complaining.
Pakistani journalist Mahwash Ajaz had this to say.
Astounding that this anti-Pakistan drivel gets to be posted & promoted on Netflix but Pakistani dramas are banned by India & won’t get a place there because Urdu content on Netflix comes under direct Indian purview.
This actually reminded of similar conversations that happened around the release of the first film.
Pakistani filmmaker Faisal Rafi had this to say then.
10 years ago a few collaborators and I set out to make a film about the Lyari gangsters and drug mafia, couldn’t raise a Rs locally because a film 80% in Balochi won’t sell, approached Netflix who said Pakistani content not needed, the Twitter page is from 10 years ago too
Now the question to ask is why does Netflix, an American company cater so much to India but completely ignores Pakistan? Netflix has been pumping millions into India in the last decade for original content, both movies and shows (as well as comedy specials) but the first Pakistani Netflix original is still not here.
Two things.
Firstly, the market. India has 12+ million active users compared to Pakistan’s 300,000-400,000. That is a 30-40x difference. Also India’s subscription fees are twice as much which makes the differential even wider. No wonder Netflix caters to the Indian market.
Secondly, quality. Pakistani media isn’t great. While it might be good by “saas-bahu” standards, Netflix does have a minimum quality standard regarding scripts, acting, cinematography etc. Pakistan with its smaller less mature industry is not able to meet these standards.
Post Dhurandhar, Pakistan was about to release a “counter” to it, focusing on a more “positive” image of Lyari. It was called Mera Lyari and released recently. It sold just 22 tickets on its opening day and had to be pulled from theatres. It currently has a 2.7/10 rating on IMDB. Even Pakistanis don’t want to watch Pakistani movies.
This market asymmetry can be seen in many other places. Duolingo has Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali (shown under the Indian flag not Bangladesh’s) but not Urdu. Websites like IMDB have a Hindi language option but not Urdu.
Cricket is another field where there is such asymmetry which pricks Pakistanis.
Pakistanis often complain about:
- India getting ICC tournament hosting rights quite regularly while Pakistan has hosted only one in the last 30 years (and they couldn’t even host the final)
- India getting to play 5 match test series vs England and Australia every year while Pakistan have been reduced to a 2-3 series team
- The IPL getting a dedicated two and a half month window when international cricket is brought to a halt
And the reason for that is the same – the market size and quality.
It is more profitable to cater to India. A lot of teams’ entire revenue model is centered on hosting India as much as possible. Also India provides high quality cricket. Pakistan is not on the same level anymore.
Recently Cricinfo started a series on the greatest twenty five cricketers of the 21st century. They have revealed fifteen in which there are four Indians (Ashwin, Sehwag, Bumrah, Dhoni) and zero Pakistanis. I assume the top ten will have two Indians (Sachin, Kohli) and zero Pakistanis.
There have been a few angry Pakistani voices crying about “Indian bias” but when prodded, even the Pakistanis could not come up with appropriate names.
The asymmetry exists for a reason.
And considering the ever growing economic gap, things will become even more asymmetrical.
Social media will remain the last bastion of Pakistanis.
BB makes a post, and like clockwork, we see a repost of “Hijras of India” for the nth time.
How pathetic.
How many times should the same ‘article’ get re-vomited out onto BP. There has to be a way to prioritize original content over recycled rubbish.
@X.T.M: Maybe have a limit on reposts? Nothing wrong with reposts per se but I think something should only be allowed to be reposted ONCE.
If we’re going to play this game, I lobby for an absolute ban on mentions of “Dhurandhar”. The point has been made many times. It’s just obnoxious now.
There cannot be a ban on “mention” of Dhurandhar. If you do not like it, do not read it or make your own posts on movies.
Also all my posts on Dhurandhar are original and discuss different aspects of it.
Dhurandhar is a subcontinental cultural phenomenon, the highest grossing Hindustani movie of all time and currently no 1 across the subcontinent on Netflix as well as in places with a heavy diaspora like UAE, Oman etc.
I think it merits a lot of discussion.
You’ve made your point.
There don’t need to be ten different posts on “Dhurandhar”.
We can all move on now.
“If you don’t like it, don’t read it”– Give this advice to your friend RNJ. He can ignore my threads instead of complaining.
“There can be as many posts on Dhurandhar as I like”.
By the same token, I can post about whatever I want and no one has the right to complain.
RNJ’s complaining is incredibly passive aggressive. I will not stand for passive aggression.
Just as a point of interest: Most of the audience here seems to be over “Dhurandhar”. This is not your personal diary. In that, you are free to go on about “Dhurandhar” forever.
We prefer reposts to be contextualised and contemporarised.
Stop with the false accusations. That post was previously published but was deleted. I deleted all my posts at one point.
For the record, I posted that piece before the latest piece on “Dhurandhar”. XTM re-arranged the pieces.
This whole complaint is passive aggressive. But of course, you’re the master at that.
As for “rubbish”: That is a subjective opinion and one could say the same about endless repetitions of “Dhurandhar”.
BB can delete this comment. I really don’t care. But someone needs to call you out on your passive aggression.
We placed your post on top (even though we had put it below ours).
We are not happy with BB’s constant barrage of Pakistan; it is low-signal.
Retrofitting data to prove a pattern is not scientific or logical.
That’s why we pushed your post on an important social topic; though we do prefer time spent on a repost to both contextualise and contemporarise it.
Otherwise next time we will down post it; we want this space to be high signal always.
I’m not disagreeing with any of that.
I’m actually not bothered if you re-arrange the posts.
I was responding to RNJ’s false accusation that I somehow posted that to counter BB’s “Dhurandhar” post. It is not good to read other people’s intentions. It’s very paranoid.
I will stand by my criticism of BB’s constant barrage of Pakistan. It’s very tedious at this point. Yes Duolingo has Hindi and doesn’t have Urdu. OK. Duolingo also doesn’t have Persian.
Anyway, Hindi and Urdu are essentially the same language just written in different scripts. I would know. I actually completed the Duolingo Hindi course some years ago.
My policy is to avoid BB and RNJ’s threads so I won’t be commenting here anymore.
There is a reason it is in the Devnagari script instead of Nastaliq.
Script doesn’t define language.
That is the academic consensus when it comes to languages.
XTM has expressed he’s not happy with your constant hammering of Pakistan. So even if you have zero respect for me at least have some respect for him.
My point was about the economic realities of the current day (which this entire post is about tbh).
Yes, I got the point. I’m incredibly highly educated–whatever you may think of me.
XTM has noted that you keep writing posts to denigrate Pakistan.
Of course, I can ignore them. But it’s tedious.
Now that others that are clearly on your team have agreed with him, I think you can calm down.
Nastaliq is the preceding script – Devanagari is the additional overlay.
High Culture is very fickle
Yes, my point was about the economic realities of the current day (which this entire post is about tbh).
That was us – BB has to do other posts other than simply Pakistan bashing.
Humza writes very well but it can’t just be to constantly browbeat Pakistan; it gets nauseating..
We do want decorum
BB, I do agree with XTM here. You write very well, but Pakistan is where it is and now it simply feels like flogging a dead horse.
Need to have a bit of fun now and then. I’ll lay off Pakistan for a while and just do a Pakistan centric post occasionally.
🙂 That Cedar Sinai study you mentioned sounds interesting. More details on it would be welcome!
Just had a glance at the doctors – mostly white with the occasional Indian or Asian. Almost no non white Hispanics or blacks.
They are a big hospital chain btw – official medical provider of the LA Olympics in 2028.
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/find-a-doctor.html?offset=0&limit=10&retrieveFacets=true&input=Orthopaedics
This is why your analysis of Pakistan fails; u write reams of analytic volume to justify your perspective but when faced with factual patterns you resort to your biases with respect..
An example?
I never denied that there is a socioeconomic issue regarding Dalit/Muslim representation in medical fields.
But then like I said, “privileged” landed castes with no structural barriers do not choose to go into the medical fields.
As far as reams of analytic volume goes, at least those “reams” justifying my perspective exist. In the end, these are all just opinions on the internet.
I agree. That’s why if you look at my posts, I generally avoid focusing on Pak.
Thanks – It is fine but it has to be varied for
Instance we focus on Indo-Pak since we tend to look for Commentariat focus..
But you using Author Privileges to constantly only show one side; even reposting needs to be contemporarised and contextualised.
Everyone needs to reflect on value addition and high signal