A Salman Khan release is usually followed by rounds of number-crunching and setting of new box-office records. This time around, as Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai dropped on ZeePlex on May 13, it begged a larger conversation: Will the film pave the way for more pay-per-view offerings? 

According to reports, the Prabhudheva-directed venture has earned approximately Rs 108 crore on the first day from its digital outing. Shailesh Kapoor of Ormax Media, which specialises in media research and tracking, breaks it down further. “Our estimates suggest that about eight to 10 million have viewed the film, with four million having watched it on the first day. But to gauge whether the pay-per-view model is sustainable, using Radhe as an example, is premature. The film hasn’t been appreciated. One would expect a film like this to get 30 million lifetime views. Laxmmi [2020] got about 20 million [views]. But that movie had the benefit of being on Disney+Hotstar, whose viewership is four times that of any other platform.”