Sabbir Khan is best known for action entertainers such as Heropanti, Baaghi and Munna Michael. His genre switch, Adbhut, is a supernatural psychological thriller led by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Diana Penty and Shreya Dhanwanthary. The surprise is not just the genre: the film took a release path almost nobody uses in the streaming era.
The television detour
Adbhut first premiered on SET Max and only later arrived on JioHotstar on Friday, October 9. Khan told Bollywood Hungama that the delay was a distribution problem, not a creative one. The film was meant for a 2023-24 release, but the proposed Sony-Zee merger left the rights in limbo for around a year and a half. The merger eventually did not happen, and JioHotstar became the film’s streaming home.
“It’s the number one film on the platform right now,” Khan told Bollywood Hungama.
- Production: Sony Pictures
- First window: SET Max television
- Streaming home: JioHotstar
- Streaming date: Friday, October 9
- Platform rank: No. 1, per director Sabbir Khan
- CBFC certificate: U/A with no cuts
A U/A in a genre that often gets an A
Supernatural thrillers commonly attract an A certificate, but Khan said he deliberately made Adbhut story-centric and psychological. He avoided the usual jump scares and Ramsay-style horror, and the CBFC eventually passed the film with a clean U/A and no cuts.
“You can watch it with your family without having to cringe,” he explained.
Why the release strategy matters
Most Hindi films in the streaming era either go to cinemas or premiere directly on OTT. A television window before streaming is rare, and Adbhut shows it can work when a title is stuck between deals. Sony Pictures had considered a theatrical release after seeing the finished product, but post-pandemic caution led to a wait-and-watch approach. JioHotstar’s pickup ultimately gave the film a home and an audience.
Khan says the casting was first-choice across the board: Nawazuddin Siddiqui reunited with him after Munna Michael, while Diana Penty, Shreya Dhanwanthary and Rohan Mehra responded quickly to the material. The late Vikram Gokhale, who worked with Khan on Nikamma, dubbed parts of the film and saw it before his death — a second collaboration Khan said he feels fortunate to have had.
For Hindi film fans, Adbhut is a rare case of a delayed title using television to stay alive, then converting that into a No. 1 streaming start. If the response holds, it may make producers think twice before treating OTT as the only alternative window.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com