Mumbai: Smytten PulseAI has unveiled its OTT Talent Tracker, a first-of-its-kind nationwide study measuring film actors across India on three critical metrics—Total Awareness, Intent to Watch, and Subscribe to Watch—offering fresh insight into how audiences engage with talent in the streaming economy.
The findings point to a fundamental shift: India’s OTT leaderboard looks markedly different from its theatrical star hierarchy, with subscription intent increasingly diverging from traditional measures of fame.
Fame vs Subscription: A Growing Disconnect
The study highlights a widening gap between awareness and subscription behaviour, particularly in North India, where high-visibility stars are not necessarily the strongest drivers of paid consumption.
While Salman Khan records the highest top-of-mind awareness at 22.8%, his subscription intent stands at 49.3%. In contrast, Manoj Bajpayee—despite a mere 0.7% recall—delivers a significantly higher 56.8% subscription intent and an industry-leading 96% conversion rate from watch intent to paid commitment.
A similar pattern emerges across actors known for content-driven performances. Ayushmann Khurrana (55% subscription intent) and Pankaj Tripathi (54.5%) outperform several mainstream stars despite minimal spontaneous recall.
At an aggregate level, the North’s leading stars show a 16.1-point variation in awareness but less than a 5-point difference in subscription intent—underscoring the limited correlation between visibility and monetisation.
South India: A More Competitive OTT Landscape
The divergence between fame and subscription is equally pronounced in South India, but with a more tightly contested leaderboard.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu tops the composite OTT ranking with a score of 69, ahead of Vijay, Prabhas, Jr NTR, and Mahesh Babu. Notably, her fame-to-subscription gap is just 13 points, compared to Vijay’s 27 and Prabhas’s 28, indicating stronger alignment between audience trust and willingness to pay.
Dulquer Salmaan also emerges as a strong OTT performer, converting 71% awareness into 60% subscription intent—outpacing higher-awareness stars like Vijay (85% awareness, 58% subscribe) and Prabhas (83%, 55%).
Unlike the North, the South’s top seven actors fall within a narrow 7-point band, reflecting a more competitive and trust-driven streaming ecosystem.
Female Actors Drive Stronger Engagement in the South
The report also highlights a notable gender dynamic in OTT consumption. Female actors account for 40% of the top 10 OTT positions in South India—double the 20% share in the North.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu leads the overall South ranking, while Sai Pallavi (64), Rashmika Mandanna (63), and Nayanthara (60) feature prominently among the top performers.
In North India, Alia Bhatt stands out with a 55.4% subscription intent and a 94% conversion rate, among the highest recorded in the study. Overall, female-led content consistently ranks among the strongest drivers of subscription behaviour across regions.
Rise of ‘Silent OTT Power Players’
One of the study’s most significant insights is the emergence of what it terms “Silent OTT Power Players”—actors with low mainstream visibility but disproportionately high subscription pull.
In North India, Kay Kay Menon and Nawazuddin Siddiqui—both with near-zero top-of-mind recall—record subscription intent of 53.7% and 52.3%, respectively. Ayushmann Khurrana also features in this category.
In the South, actors such as Tovino Thomas (49% subscription intent), Fahadh Faasil (top 10 composite ranking), Aishwarya Rajesh (46.7%), Ashok Selvan (44%), and Aparna Balamurali (42%) demonstrate strong conversion despite moderate awareness levels.
Four OTT Talent Archetypes Identified
The study categorises actors into four distinct archetypes based on their awareness and subscription pull:
- High Awareness, High Subscription: Bankable OTT stars who combine visibility with strong monetisation
- High Awareness, Low Subscription: Popular stars with weaker OTT conversion
- Low Awareness, High Subscription: High-trust performers driving platform value
- Low Awareness, Low Subscription: Emerging or niche talent with limited commercial impact
These archetypes provide a new framework for OTT platforms to evaluate casting, commissioning, and marketing strategies.
Implications for OTT Platforms
The findings signal a structural shift in India’s streaming economy. As subscription-driven models mature, platforms are increasingly likely to prioritise actors who drive paid engagement over those who merely deliver reach.
The growing decoupling of fame from monetisation suggests that audience trust, content credibility, and performance consistency are becoming more critical than box-office pedigree.
For OTT platforms, this could reshape talent valuation, content greenlighting, and even marketing spends—moving the industry toward a more data-driven, performance-led ecosystem.
