Exclusive Interview: Ab Hoga Hisaab Director Divyanshu Malhotra Says “OTT Verdicts Are Digital Box Office Reports,” Wants To Peek Into An Imtiaz Ali Set, Justifies Casting Shaheer Sheikh As An Alpha Male & More!

There’s a moment in this conversation with director Divyanshu Malhotra, where he pauses, almost mid-thought, and says something that ends up explaining everything about his filmography: he doesn’t want to be boxed in. Not as the “young adult shows” guy, not as the “sports drama” guy, not as the “crime thriller” guy. Somewhere between Flames, Sixer, and his current hit Ab Hoga Hisaab, the director has quietly built a career on refusing to repeat himself! In an exclusive conversation with Koimoi, he opened his heart out about his journey as a filmmaker and why he wants to peek into an Imtiaz Ali set!

Divyanshu’s show, starring Shaheet Sheikh and Avinash Mishra, along with Mouni Roy and Sanjay Kapur, has entered Ormax’s list of the top 10 most-viewed shows of 2026 in the first half with a massive 9.6 million views. The director instantly agrees that OTT verdicts are the digital box office reports!

OTT Success Needs To Be Studied Through The Number Game!

Earlier, when you would ask any filmmaker about numbers, they would usually not validate the game. But over time, be it box office or OTT viewership, filmmakers agree that numbers are important! Divyanshu clearly splits the answer into two – the first is internal: whether two years spent on a project pushed him a step deeper as a filmmaker, which he calls the validation that matters most to him personally. The second is external – and, as he’s candid about, unavoidable in an industry where money is on the line, and trust has to be continually re-earned. For him, a show cracking the top charts isn’t just a statistic. “It’s a proof that the story actually reached the cities and audiences it was built for, and in a purely digital-release world with no box office report to lean on, that’s often the only real signal a storyteller gets.”

Divyanshu further explains, “When we look at theater, there is obviously the box office report. There are on-ground people talking about the films, etc. When you look at YouTube, there are direct comments and engagement that you get to observe. But with OTT, I feel this has become that one, you know, important factor, where it gives you an idea as to how many people would have watched. And it always helps you to, you know, then dig deeper, see what the flaws were from your end? How can you improve on that if you’re going ahead?”

Are We Ignoring Simple Stories To Glorify The ‘Alpha Male’?

When asked straightforwardly about OTT getting too obsessed with the brooding Alpha Male stereotype and ignoring the simple, rooted stories, Divyanshu Malhotra does not dodge. In fact, he explains how casting Shaheer Sheik and Avinash Mishra as the angry young men on Ab Hoga Hisaab was not just to cash in on the alpha male trend.

He explains, “No, I totally, I totally understand this whole alpha man thing. It is something that I’ve also been very vocal about in terms of what my representation of men is whenever I get a chance. But one thing is, every channel, every platform would want something like this. As a filmmaker, I am currently in the market; I can either change the market, but for me to start bringing change in markets, there is time. I have to, you know, get better at what I do. I have to have a, I have to have more people trust my voice.”

He continues, “Second is, do you make the best of the opportunities you get? And I was very cognizant of the fact that if you see Ab Hoga Hisaab, I did not want Shaheer Sheikh’s Bobby to celebrate his violence. I did not want Bobby to take pride in his actions.”

Talking about casting Shaheer Sheikh as the Angry Young Man, Bobby, Divyanshu further explained, “We were very clear that with Bobby, we never wanted to go that route where he’s celebrating his violence. There’s a moment when he ends up burning a man alive, and the immediate thing after that is that you see regret on his face.”

Wanting To Peek At Imtiaz Ali’s Sets!

Talking about his idols in filmmaking, Divyanshu doesn’t hesitate long before picking Imtiaz Ali! He excitedly and endearingly expresses, “What he does is so beautiful. I just want to see how, even after spending so many years in such a difficult industry, he carries his heart so gently in his hands. That’s something that I want to learn. Because the industry is difficult, and it makes us so thick-skinned, and I want to see how that man, carries his heart like a pumping heart, in the palm of his hands, and presents it to the audience. It’s magic. It is something more than an average human will do. So there’s obviously, Imtiaz sir.”

Divyanshu completes his list with Malayalam filmmaker-actor Basil Joseph; Vikramaditya Motwane; and Zoya Akhtar, whose ability to make deeply privileged, easy-to-dismiss characters feel genuinely human is something he says he wants to understand from the inside.

About Ab Hoga Hisaab

The Amazon MX Player series stars Mahabharata fame Shaheer Sheikh, the TV heartthrob, who rules the audience. The show also stars Avinash Mishra, currently making a mark in Khatron Ke Khiladi 15. Co-starring Sanjay Kapur and Mouni Roy, the series is one of the most-viewed shows of 2026 on OTT!

For more exclusive stories and interviews, stay tuned to Koimoi.

Must Read: Exclusive: Main Vaapas Aaunga Director Imtiaz Ali Reacts To The Box Office Success, “Audience Is Also Saying Main Vaapas Aaunga To The Theaters, Please Make Your Best Films…”

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