What do you think is the most viewed Netflix video on YouTube? On the official channel of the streaming service, of course, there are several videos about the series “Wednesday”. For example, in fourth place, with 39 million views, is a video in which the ice-cold hand from the hit series walks through New York. And Jenna Ortega’s now-iconic dance scene as Wednesday Addams is number 2 with 56 million views.
In between is the trailer of “Squid Game” with 52 million views – after all, in the fall of 2021, half the world wanted to know what kind of series it is that the other half talks about all the time.
But still way ahead of the motion pictures of these huge hit series is a video titled “Kaam 25: DIVINE | Sacred Games” is the biggest Netflix hit on YouTube. What the hell is behind it?
A music video is Netflix’s YouTube highlight
This is a 2 minute 41 second music video titled “Kaam 25” by Indian rapper Divine for the series “The Godfather of Bombay” aka “Sacred Games”.
The new adaptation “The Godfather of Bombay” was released in 2018 as the first-ever Netflix in-house production from India. The focus of the two seasons is a decrepit and frustrated cop who is suddenly contacted by a gang boss who has been missing for 16 years. He tells the police officer that he only has 25 days to save his hometown from disaster. The series full of twists, which often works with flashbacks, was not only a great success for the streaming service in India. By the way, in Germany it was only released in the original with subtitles, there is no local dubbing.
By the way, the number “Kaam 25” does not appear in the entire series at all, is not even played in the opening or closing credits. It became the official theme song anyway. The internationally successful Divine, who was the first Indian rapper to be seen with a Spotify billboard in New York’s famous Times Square, was inspired for his song by the theme of the series and the dark corners of his birthplace Mumbai aka Bombay.
The fact that Netflix produced a video clip together with the popular rapper and then posted it on YouTube about three weeks before the start of the series in the summer of 2018 is now considered an ingenious marketing move. Netflix gained attention and became more successful in the highly competitive Indian market, where the streaming service is struggling.
And the music clip became Netflix’s biggest viral hit to date – certainly benefiting from the fact that you “watch” such a video over and over or, in many cases, just listen to it. However, the figures should not be dismissed as such. Because the video clip is in the front next to the views in a different format.
It already has more than 886,000 likes. The lead here isn’t as big as it is in views, but it’s still way ahead of the “Squid Game” trailer (869,000) and the “Wednesday” dance scene (844,000).