Jio, Airtel rule Covid-time war for India’s smartphone, TV public square

New York: Sushant Singh Rajput wasn’t a big star until June 14 when he died. Certainly no Amitabh Bachchan of India’s audiences that he seems today if we just returned from the moon.

Credit SSR’s acting, propelled by the tailwinds of controversy. His “Dil Bechara”, unveiled 6 weeks later by Disney Plus and Hotstar on July 24, sits in the same slot as Amazon Prime Video’s “Gulabo Sitabo” anchored by the great Bachchan in the immediately preceding period.

The review of a 67-page deck by Nielsen and Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) in its 10th edition, mapped with an 81-page edition No.11 presented by BARC chief Sunil Lulla on August 27, shows that Bachchan’s “Gulabo…” and Rajput’s “Dil Bechara” were the respective numero uno of direct-to-digital movies of the lockdown period between June 6-July 3 and July 1-August 20.