There is often no rhyme or reason why some movies make it to the Amazon Prime top ten, though critical reception and box office performance often seems to have nothing whatsoever to do with streaming popularity. As such, there’s a somewhat eyebrow-raising new entry that’s just sneaked into the number ten spot on the Amazon Prime global top ten, Hindi-language action movie Shamshera.
This big-budget action movie about a tribe fighting for independence against British rule was shot way back in 2018 and originally intended for release in 2019. The pandemic put a stop to that, and the Omicron variant saw it finally emerge in theaters in India on 22 July of this year. Critics and audiences weren’t impressed, with it landing at a disappointing 22% on the Tomatometer with a 55% audience score.
Reviews call the nearly three-hour movie an “epic disappointment”, and, simply, “a mess”. Theatrical audiences stayed away, and it ended up making just half of its budget back, cementing its status as a box office bomb.
But Shamshera may have found a new life on streaming. Much of its success may be down to it topping the Amazon charts in India for the last week, with it also triumphing in Pakistan, Cambodia, Kenya, and Malaysia. That international success means it’s now made an appearance on the global charts.
It’s possible that the sensational international hit RRR may have something to do with this, as the two movies share some surface similarities. Perhaps if this continues to climb the charts, domestic audiences who were thrilled with the Tollywood action extravaganza will also check this out, though the reviews hint they might end up very disappointed.
