After a successful theatrical run and a fair share of controversy, the Indian crime epic “Animal” has made its debut on Netflix, achieving record-breaking opening week figures for any Indian film on the platform.
According to Netflix’s weekly top 10 list, which compiles viewership data across the service, “Animal” secured the fourth position globally in its first week, amassing a total of 20.8 million viewing hours.
The film followed behind other international titles, including the Korean-language “Badland Hunters,” the German-language “Sixty Minutes,” and the Spanish-language Oscar-nominated survival drama “Society of the Snow.”
Comparing it to other Indian films on Netflix, “Animal” surpassed the opening week viewership of recent hits. For instance, the Telugu-language film “Salaar” gathered only 4.7 million viewing hours in its first week, despite a successful $85 million theatrical run.
The Netflix original “The Archies” generated 5.2 million viewing hours during the Christmas season last year. Notably, “Animal” exceeded the one-week viewership record for an Indian film on
Netflix, previously held by “Jaane Jaan,” the Hindi-language adaptation of the Japanese novel “The Devotion of Suspect X,” starring Kareena Kapoor Khan. “Jaane Jaan” had 18.8 million viewership hours in its opening week.
Ranbir Kapoor’s romantic comedy “Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar” had an opening week with 11.3 million viewing hours following its moderately successful theatrical run. Other top Indian debuts on Netflix included Shah Rukh Khan’s “Jawan” (14.9 million viewership hours in week one), Alia Bhatt’s “Gangubai Kathiawadi” (13.8 million), and “Darlings” (10.2 million), along with the spy drama “Khufiya” (13.2 million).
Notably, “Animal” even surpassed the opening week viewership of the 2022 crossover hit “RRR,” which had 7.1 million viewing hours in the first week before gaining momentum in the second week with 18.3 million viewing hours.
Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, “Animal” achieved significant success at the Indian box office, grossing over $110 million worldwide. However, the film faced criticism for its portrayal of women and its glorification of toxic masculinity, leading to poor reviews and a “rotten” 30% score on Rotten Tomatoes.