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Despite box office non-performance heres why the Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif starrer Zero is breaking records on TV

31 Aug 2019

In December 2018, we saw the release of the Shah Rukh Khan Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif starrer Zero.Directed by Aanand L Rai the film which was touted to be one of 2018s most keenly awaited release turned copper at the box office. However, now months on and despite the fact that Zero turned out to be a box office nonstarter the film seems to be doing rather well on television. In fact, reports state that Zero premiered on TV with a record 9.2 million impression, and following this the film also recorded a staggering 3.9 million impressions in a single month on other paid streaming platform. Though the satellite network that featured the film and the streaming services are happy about the performance, a big question that arises here is what was different for Zero on these platforms from its theatrical release for it do so well. Well, the reason being Zero setting new benchmarks in satellite and streaming domains is the fact that Red Chillies Productions supplied the TV network and the streaming platform a different cut of the film. The said cut was shorter and more crisp than the theatrical release which has gone a long way to entice audience. Besides this the network promotional campaign for Zero , unlike the theatrical campaign, revealed the bit about the Mars mission and portrayed the film to be a journey of sorts that the lead protagonist Shah Rukh Khan goes through from Meerut to Mars. Another reason being attributed to the satellite success of Zero is the fact that television audience are far different from theatre going crowd. While theatre going audience decide whether a film is worth watching based on reviews and word of mouth, the satellite audience on the other hand do not pay much attention to such factors. In fact, an individual who might skip a film in theatres may watch the same film on TV out of sheer curiosity or for the lack of options. Interestingly, with Zero now setting new benchmarks another detail that comes to light is the fact that, pervious films like Junglee Genius and LoveYatri that do not work at the box office, found immense favour among the satellite audience.