Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga is the surprise hit of the season, becoming Netflix’s most-watched Indian film ever within its first 14 days of release. In just two weeks, the thriller — that combines the thrills of heist and hijack — had garnered 29 million hours of viewing, surpassing juggernauts like RRR (25.5 million hours of viewing in 14 days) and Gangubai Kathiawadi (22.1 million hours of viewing in 14 days).

The film, frontlined by Yami Gautam and starring Sunny Kaushal and Sharad Kelkar, debuted among the top 10 most-watched movies and shows in 45 countries, according to independent auditor Ernst & Young, making it Netflix’s third-most-streamed non-English-language property around the world. The film is a Netflix original, which had a direct-to-digital release.

Even a month after its release, the film, directed by debutant Ajay Singh, features in the Top 10 list. Reason enough for The Telegraph to chat with Yami, Sunny and producer Dinesh Vijan of Maddock Films on the sleeper success of their film.

Congratulations on the huge success of Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga! Now that it’s been a while and you would have gained some objectivity, what do you think has worked for the film?

Dinesh Vijan: Honestly, no one has been able to figure out how the film made it to the Top 10 charts in 45 countries within the first few days of its release. So there were all these conspiracy theories that did the rounds, each trying to decode the success of the film. And in the middle of all of this, I just said: ‘Well, maybe it’s just a good film’ (laughs).

Maddock Films has released Mimi, Dasvi and now Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga on Netflix, and what I have understood about OTT is that whatever makes for relentless and engaging viewing always works. The films that you can’t really pause and watch are the ones that get really, really far. In the first 30-seconder (teaser) of Chor... that we released, we only conveyed the idea of a couple (played by Yami and Sunny) trying to pull off a heist on a plane which eventually gets hijacked. That got people hooked and fortunately, the film delivered on that invitation. And also, great performances from Yami and Sunny.

Yami Gautam: I just thank God for everything that I get, I don’t question (laughs). This is my fourth film with Dinoo (Vijan) and my second film with Amar (Kaushik, who has co-written the film) and I know how their thought process works and how passionate they are about films. Whether a film is successful or not is not in our hands, but somewhere in my heart, I knew that the audience would love this film. But I had no idea that internationally it would create such a huge splash. It has been trending worldwide for weeks now.

Sunny Kaushal: We always make films so that they work... koi nahin sochta ki apni film nahin chalegi....

Yami: Lekin kuch scripts padh ke aisa lagta toh hain! (Laughs)

Sunny: We, of course, set out to make a film that everyone would like, but none of us could predict the kind of overwhelming love that has come in. We are really grateful, it’s amazing.

Sunny, you paid a lot for it, getting bashed up for most of the film!

Sunny: Ya, I thoroughly enjoyed it, man! (Laughs)

What’s been the best comment that’s come your way for the film? Any Easter eggs, given this is a thriller, that a viewer spotted and made you go ‘wow?’

Sunny: Ajay (Singh, director) deliberately put in an Easter egg which was for his own satisfaction, really. When Neha (Yami) and Ankit (Sunny) first meet and he asks for his vegan meal on the plane, the book that he’s seen reading is called The Jackal Has Landed. That’s basically a foreshadowing of the whole film because it hints at what is going to happen next... that the ‘jackal’ will land. And I am the jackal! (Laughs) A couple of viewers sent me a screenshot of the scene and pointed out how it speaks so much about our film. I am glad that you asked this question because I have been dying to tell someone this!

Yami: My father is one of my biggest critics and after watching this film, he told me that this is the kind of stuff everyone wants to watch... something that’s thrilling, entertaining, engaging and also has a very strong emotional core. He told me that it gave me so much scope for performance. My dad’s reaction to the film is very precious to me.

Dinesh Vijan, the producer of the film

All of you have had direct-to-digital releases in the past. It depends on the genre, of course, but have you managed to decode what kind of a film works best on streaming?

Dinesh: All the films from our end that came before Chor... were made for a theatrical release and ended up on digital because of the pandemic. But from its inception, Chor..., was for digital. From the get-go, we had to make it fast-paced and engaging. Regarding the cast, Yami is someone you can’t imagine can do what her character did at the end of the film. Sunny has always played a kind of lover boy, and to have him flip in this film also worked very well. Ajay has beautifully directed the film and Amar has given him great support.

This film was specifically created for digital, so it’s songless, barring that one song that is used to set up the story. We need to put good films on digital because digital, along with theatrical, is here to stay, and look at the number of people that we have managed to reach with Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga!

Both worlds will co-exist and there is now a clear differentiator for a film that’s only made for digital. Boring a viewer is never an option because they have so many options... and a remote.

Yami: When I read a script or sign a film, and if it’s for an OTT release, we are not sizing down the vision in any way. The only way one can stand out with one’s content on OTT, where there is no dearth of options, is through sheer brilliance, whatever genre it is. That gospel stands true for even theatricals for me because the competition is cutthroat even for a theatrical release because the audience now has the option of waiting for the film and watching it later when it releases on OTT. So it’s a very, very unpredictable business right now. One needs to be so good that one can’t be ignored. And, for me, that’s a good challenge to have.

The audience of today may be receptive to all kinds of content, but does that make them more discerning as well?

Dinesh: Post the pandemic, the bar has gone really high because the audience has got exposed to so much international content, which comes with a certain yardstick of quality. Chor... could be a film out of anywhere in the world. And with Indian films doing well internationally — with RRR becoming the toast of the West — a lot of attention is also on India to churn out quality content. The idea is to do world standard, and even better than world standard — which is both in the craft as well as the aesthetics of the storytelling. A thriller always works, and so does a family comedy, if one can crack that formula.