Thanking SS Rajamouli for choosing Kenya to film many scenes for SSMB29, a top-ranking Kenyan official commented that the film is "expected to reach more than a billion viewers worldwide". The projection is laughable.
Avatar (2009), based on estimates of average global ticket prices at the time, had a theatrical viewership of around 300 million to 350 million people. The theatrical viewership for Avatar: The Way of Water, in 2022, is estimated to be in the range of 200 million to 250 million.
If one billion viewers watch the Mahesh Babu-Rajamouli movie in theatres across the world, its box-office collections will be more than Rs 10,000 Cr. Baahubali 2, the most popular Indian movie since Sholay, was watched by about 11-12 crore viewers in theatres. RRR and KGF 2 was watched by half that number.
The one billion figure likely includes streaming viewers (Netflix will stream SSMB29 in more than 120 countries after its theatrical run) and other forms of consumption. Even considering this, 100 crore viewers watching SSMB29 is an unrealistic expectation.
