Building a case for e-premiere of films on YouTube

India has the largest number of YouTube users in the world at 491 million

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Eight weeks after its release in theaters in June, Aamir Khan Productions' new feature film Sitaare Zameen Par will be available for pay-per-view on YouTube, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film will skip its debut on traditional OTT streaming services (Netflix, JioHotstar or Prime Video) after its release in cinemas—a route Bollywood has been taking so far.

Aamir Khan has often red-flagged Bollywood's broken business model and the shrinking window between theatrical and streaming debut of new films that keeps audiences away from theaters.

Besides, OTT platforms are no longer paying dearly for buying new films on account of cost cuts and fiscal discipline. They are also shy of sharing viewership data, which makes an even greater case for Bollywood to give YouTube a shot, said media and content strategists.

India has the largest number of YouTube users in the world at 491 million, according to Statista, an online portal providing statistics and business intelligence data across industries. "It enjoys unparalleled reach among all video streaming platforms. On any other OTT service, a film would reach 20 to 50 million users. On YouTube that number could be 400 million," said Siddharth Jhawar, country manager at global adtech company Moloco.