The Ranveer Singh Effect on Streaming

Last week belonged to Ranveer Singh. He appeared on two of the biggest streaming shows — the first episode of Koffee With Karan Season 7 and Ranveer Vs. Wild With Bear Grylls — and if the numbers are to be believed, Singh made them bigger than they've ever been. 

Ranveer Vs. Wild With Bear Grylls released on Netflix on July 8th and is already one of the most viewed shows of the week. It garnered 6.7 million views, according to Ormax Media. (Keep in mind, that the total number of Netflix subscribers in India is approximately 5.5 million.) The last time a Netflix show made it to the most-watched shows was She S2, with 2.8 million views in the last week of June. On an average, in 2022, Netflix has got approximately 3 million views for its most popular projects. Take Kapil Sharma: I'm Not Done Yet, for example. Netflix had high hopes for it and it hovered around 3 million views in its first week. Singh, on the other hand, seems to have single-handedly doubled Netlfix's average viewership. 

Disney+ Hotstar discovered similar joys after airing Koffee with Karan last week. The streaming service – which features more regularly than Netflix on the list of most-viewed content – has witnessed an average viewership of approximately 6 million for its top shows this year. Masoom, starring Boman Irani, reached 6.7 million viewers in its second week while Kaun Pravin Tambe reached 5.8 million by its second week. So far, the exception was Anupama: Namaste America, which got 10.5 million viewers in its first week. The first episode of the seventh season of Koffee With Karan got 12.2 million views in its first week, according to Ormax Media. 

Curiously, the Ranveer effect doesn't seem to extend to the actor's films. Neither 83 (on Netflix) nor Jayeshbhai Jordaar (on Disney+ Hotstar) scored good numbers. It looks like Singh's performances as Bollywood's wild card are more exciting than the on-screen characters he's picked for himself.