Entertainment: Taking the Lead

In the world of entertainment, actors know that “to be seen” is “to be relevant”, whether it’s cinematography at the airport or sharing a selfie from the Maldives. Katrina Kaif topped the MOTN poll for the first time since 2014, not only for her role in the action drama Sooryavanshi, Hindi cinema’s biggest hit of 2021, but also because of the extravaganza of her three-day wedding, which lasted almost a month. Been in the limelight. The entry of ‘Victina’ (“Vic”, referring to her actor-husband Vicky Kaushal) into a landscape that includes other celebrity couplings – ‘Virushka’ and ‘Deepveer’ – and Kaif’s jig in Sooryavanshi as ‘Tip Tip’ The remixed version of ‘Barsa Paani’, which has garnered over 200 million views on YouTube, ensured that 38-year-old ended Deepika Padukone’s seven-year reign at the top.

Raveena Tandon made her streaming debut with the Netflix series Aranyak, which led to her debut in the OTT Star (Female) category. In doing so, he overtook Sushmita Sen, whose second season of the acclaimed drama Arya (Disney + Hotstar) also released on 10 December. The appearance of three 40-something actresses in the top five—Pooja Bhatt—was the third for her role in Bombay. Begum – shows how women-led stories are flourishing on the SVOD (Exclusive Video-on-Demand) platform. This is in stark contrast to the top five heroines, of whom only one has played a significant role in Thalaivi since the last edition of MOTN pole-Kangana Ranaut.

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Where men are concerned, Amitabh Bachchan only cemented his No. 1 ranking. The 79-year-old actor’s October release Chehre may have rocked the box office, but on the small screen, he entertained families as the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati. Few actors have forged such an enduring relationship with their fans as Bachchan. Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan have come closer. Both occupied the number 2 and 3 spots, though they lost some ground, despite their theatrical releases—Sooryavanshi and Ultimate: The Final Truth.

Thanks to the release of Bob Biswas on ZEE5, Abhishek Bachchan also retained the top spot in the No. 1 OTT Star (Male) category. The actor played a younger version of the eponymous character first seen in Sujoy Ghosh’s story and portrayed by Shashwat Chatterjee. The film was one of the most viewed titles on the stage. Abhishek was followed by Manoj Bajpayee (The Family Man 2), Bobby Deol (Ashram), Saif Ali Khan (Tandav) and Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Serious Men), all of whom have seen a professional resurgence for OTT. Unlike their female counterparts, the boundaries between OTT and the big screen are blurry for actors who find themselves locked between formats. Bachchan, Salman and Akshay have done the same with Gulabo Sitabo, Radhe Aur Laxmi and Atrangi Re. With the third wave of COVID disrupting the theatrical calendar of 2022, the audience is likely to see more heroes and heroines in both the worlds.