Bollywood's 'Champions' changes the rules of cinema: "YouTube can reach people without them subscribing to a specific service."

It was 2018 when a group of ten people with intellectual disabilities wearing sneakers captivated screens across Spain. "Champions ," the film directed by Javier Fesser, told the story of Spain's worst basketball team and its redemption.

It was the highest-grossing Spanish-language film of the year, grossing between €19.1 and €19.3 million; its success led to three Goya Awards (including Best Film, Best New Actor for Jesús Vidal, and Best Original Song). It was truly moving; and now, that same story is being told in Bollywood . Same plot, same concept, almost identical characters, but in a completely different context.

From his native Mumbai, Aamir Khan , lead actor and producer of the Bollywood adaptation, explains how Champions , its original version, presented itself as an opportunity to raise awareness among Indian audiences. From the moment the film fell into his hands, he envisioned it as a "vehicle through which viewers can benefit from a story that promotes empathy, reduces prejudice, and encourages inclusion from the heart."

Sitaare Zameen Par , directed by RS Prasanna, surpassed €25 million in global box office receipts and is now poised to do what a blockbuster has never dared to do before. The film reached Indian audiences in June and, on August 1, landed on YouTube without going through the usual toll that any release faces: streaming . The film is available with subtitles in ten languages—including Spanish, English, French, German, and Portuguese—as well as dubbed versions for key markets. With this move, Khan becomes the first major Indian film star to release a blockbuster directly on YouTube with international reach.

"As a creative person, I've always wanted my audience to experience my films first on the big screen, so that's what I did," he says. Streaming would have been the logical next step after the big screen, but for Khan, that wasn't an option. In India, on-demand TV subscribers represent a very small fraction of the population . Khan's big concern had always been that, in his country, the biggest blockbusters only reach two or three percent of the population. "Mainly because India has very few cinema screens—about 5,000 for Hindi films," the producer says. By comparison, the United States—with barely a third of India's population—has 35,000 screens, and China, with a similar population to India's, has about 90,000. "Meanwhile, many districts in India don't have a single cinema," he laments.

The solution is two-pronged, says Khan. In the long term, more movie theaters will have to be built, but that's a slow process. So the producer opted for a path that would allow him to make films accessible to everyone. He did what he had to do: look for alternatives: "About 15 years ago, I started thinking about alternative distribution models. What YouTube allows us to do is reach millions of people without them needing to subscribe to a specific service. It's a way to solve the challenge of how to reach audiences who don't have access to movie theaters."

Khan stands firm in his decision, but asserts that he has nothing against streaming services. Still, "releasing a film on a subscription platform just four or eight weeks after its theatrical release is not healthy." For Khan, this window should be much longer: "In fact, the norm worldwide should be: first theaters, then pay-per-view, and then subscription ." The traditional practice jeopardizes the distribution model and threatens to damage the industry, he believes.

What Khan believes should be the next step after a theatrical release—pay-per-view—had been unthinkable in India until now: "It was something I wanted to create. I still believe platforms have their role, but the subscription release window is too short."

His condition was one: the film wouldn't be available on subscription until six months after its theatrical release. "That didn't sit well with the distributors. So I skipped that step and went straight to pay-per-view. That's the model that works for me."

This step doesn't come without its hurdles and difficulties. "It feels like our ship is sailing in uncharted waters," the producer confesses. One of the biggest challenges he encountered was YouTube's already established reputation as a free platform. Users aren't used to paying for their content, and whether or not they would do so with Sitaare Zameen Par remained a mystery. But the producer's philosophy is simple: "My job is to make the film available to everyone. Then, whether they want to watch it or not, that's up to them." He adds, "As a storyteller , it's my responsibility to make sure my work is accessible to as many people as possible."

So YouTube, the quintessential independent content platform, could be one step away from reinventing itself as the home of premium cinema. "Honestly, I think it's going in that direction. Although it started as a user-generated content platform, it's grown so much that there's no reason why it can't host other types of experiences." For him, it's simply a matter of democratizing content.

It's a risky bet, but Aamir Khan maintains a positive outlook: "I'm happy with how the film has been received." For him, it's still just a beginning: "It's the beginning of a very exploratory journey. I sincerely believe it has great possibilities and a lot of potential. There's a lot to learn, but also a lot of room for improvement."