Madhuri Dixit's Mrs Deshpande beats Stranger Things S5 in viewership; here's how

Mrs Deshpande was the most-watched OTT show in India this past week, beating even Stranger Things and Four More Shots Please.

If you have been on the internet in the last week or so, Stranger Things is all anyone can talk about. From discussions about the finale to theories about possible spin-offs, fans have analysed and over-analysed the popular show, which came to an end this New Year’s Day. It may be the most-watched show in the world, but in India, Stranger Things Season 5 had to settle for the second spot in the viewership battle. And it lost to Madhuri Dixit, no less.

Mrs Deshpande beats Stranger Things S5

Madhuri Dixit plays a serial killer in Mrs Deshpande.

Ormax Media recently shared the viewership data for OTT in India for the week from December 22 to 28. The list was topped by Madhuri’s new JioHotstar show, Mrs Desphande, in which she plays a serial killer outwitting the police. According to Ormax, the show had 4.2 million views that week. Stranger Things S5 Vol 2 premiered on December 25, and it racked up 3.3 million views in the week to finish a distant second to Mrs Deshpande. Mrs Deshpande benefited from having a larger subscriber base (for JioHotstar) to cater to, and having all seven days to stream, whereas Stranger Things' new episodes were released mid-week. Internationally, however, Stranger Things beat the Madhuri show with over 30 million additional views.

Mrs Deshpande is directed by Nagesh Kukunoor and is the Hindi-language adaptation of a French thriller called La Mante. The show, which also stars Priyanshu Chatterjee and Siddharth Chandekar, released on December 19. It follows Mumbai Police enlisting the help of a jailed serial killer when her copycat strikes new victims. The show received mixed reviews, with praise for Madhuri’s performance, but criticism of the slow narrative.

Stranger Things’ global triumph

The final season of Stranger Things released in three parts, with the first four episodes (dubbed Vol 1) releasing in mid-November. Volume 2 (eps 5-7) was released on Christmas, while the two-hour final episode was released on New Year’s Eve. Season 5 had 34.8 million views, topping the charts. With 140 million views overall across seasons, it is Netflix’s third-most-watched show ever, behind Wednesday and Adolescence.