What Makes A Streaming Hit? 'Saare Jahan Se Accha' Maker Sejal Shah Unpacks The 'Box-Office' (and Budgets) of OTT

On the Independence Day weekend, when Netflix debuted Saare Jahan Se Accha, featuring Pratik Gandhi as RAW agent Vishnu who infiltrates Pakistan to sabotage its nuclear programme, the show had to battle it out in a crowded streaming space. There were holdover shows like Salakaar and Wednesday season two dominating the charts in India, but it quickly shifted in the week of August 18-24, when Sumit Purohit-directed Saare Jahan Se Accha clocked in more views (2.8 million) over Tim Burton-backed Wednesday (2.4 million), as per data by Ormax.

For journalist-turned-director Sejal Shah, who runs the production house Bombay Fables with Bhavesh Mandalia, also the showrunner on Saare Jahan Se Accha, the numbers were a huge relief. The series remained on Netflix's top 10 Non-English shows globally for two weeks and it was a sweet reward for the title, which was ambitiously in the making for three years, including the writing stage.

"It was a long, tough journey for us. I am proud of the show because we were treading on a thin line with the kind of subject we had, but the response has been reassuring," says Shah, who has backed streaming titles like Serious Men (which landed Nawazuddin Siddiqui the International Emmy nomination), Decoupled, Delhi Crime season two, Asur 2, and Costao, which she also directed.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Shah breaks down the streaming landscape over the years, from developing shows, discussing budgets to pivoting to films.

Edited excerpts

A still from 'Saare Jahan Se Accha'

All of your work has been on streaming, six titles so far. How much has the OTT landscape changed over the years from when you started?

We started our journey with Serious Men, which did very well. We won awards and even got the Emmy nomination for Nawaz. Over five years, I can see a big difference. I feel that the kind of film we would have made earlier, I don't think I can make that kind of film now. When we did Serious Men, there were so many other films people were making, the streamers had just come in, and they were interested in good subjects, not necessarily stars. At that point, even budgets didn't matter, in the sense that the titles didn't have to be a big-budget spectacle. They were willing to back good, interesting subjects.

Now I feel things have changed drastically; the competition is so high, and because of that, everybody feels that you need people to get interested instantly. How? By giving them stars, the spectacle. Some don't even care about quality, as long as you get the numbers, they are happy with that. But for someone like us, who don't come from a film background, had it not been for OTT, we wouldn't be in this business. We turned producers because we wanted to back interesting stuff. So OTT liberated us; now, at least, we have a voice.

One can gauge the success of films through reviews, word of mouth and box office. How do we gauge that a show has worked? What is a good number for a show to be called a hit?

I agree, even I don't know what would cut a good number or a bad one. But, at least now, the numbers are made public, so that gives you an idea in comparison. When Saare Jahan Se Achcha dropped, it was in the top-10 non-English shows of Netflix globally for two weeks, which indicates more people are watching it. How to gauge it? Obviously, the numbers the platform shares. For makers, you know after four to five projects if the title has landed when you talk to people and get an overall sense.

In the OTT space, what would qualify as a big-budget show today, considering film budgets above ₹150-200 crore are deemed big?

I think above ₹50-60 crore.

Bhavesh Mandalia and Sejal Shah

Has that number changed from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic?

Earlier, they were doing many more shows, which had bigger budgets but they were also mounting shows with all kinds of budgets. Now, I think they have become strict. Every platform is strict with budgets and according to them, which I agree with, they would rather do more shows than spend so much money on one expensive show. Unless, of course, you are doing a Heeramandi, which is by a huge creator (Sanjay Leela Bhansali).

From a producer's point of view, how do you mount shows today? From budgeting to revenues.

We are constantly developing a lot of stories, without thinking about them from a budget point of view. In fact, we are just doing two series and about 6-7 films now, collaborating with filmmakers like Vishal Furia and Rajesh Mapuskar for a slate we are building.

For series, we develop the bible and for films, we finish our screenplay. Then we attach directors or showrunners, and then we go to platforms to pitch. Some shows don't become viable. The streamers will tell you it is a good idea, but it is too expensive. So, the budget conversation comes later because no one knows what will get approved, so there is no way to factor in the budget so early.

Is the hub-and-spoke model viable for all, like what Applause Entertainment does (Scam 1992, Black Warrant, Gandhi), where it green-lights a show, backs it with finance and later partners with a streamer? That gives the titles massive creative independence.

I think they are the only ones doing it, along with maybe Yash Raj Films. But you really need deep pockets for that. It's a different kind of ball game all together, so for us, it's not feasible. But, what we are doing right now is, we have started developing a small show that we are planning to produce on our own and we will sell it to a platform later. But this doesn't mean that this is what we are looking to do. We are attempting to do it here because we were excited about the idea of the show and knew it would be difficult for a platform to see what we are looking at.

The model is great, you get a lot of creative freedom and if the titles do well, you can make more money. Financially and creatively, it is a damn good idea. But it doesn't make sense for us to make this our model because there are just three or four platforms that will buy, so investing that kind of money comes with risk. In films, you can take more risk; you can get someone to fund it, then sell the OTT, music and satellite rights and of course, get box-office revenue.