Where to Watch in USA and Canada This Diwali Week: Dilwali Diwali on Netflix, The Vvaan on Prime Video and More

Diwali week brings a busy Indian streaming slate to the USA and Canada, but availability differs by country and by title, so here is what diaspora viewers can plan around — and which dates still need a check of your local listing.

The week’s clearest watch is Dilwali Diwali, which premieres on Netflix on Thursday, November 5. Netflix India announced the film itself as “out 5 November, only on Netflix”. Directed by Ritesh Menon and written by Ritu Mago, it stars Mihir Ahuja as Ansh Sikka, a young man who returns home for Diwali after years of working abroad and surprises his middle-class Punjabi parents with a swanky new high-rise apartment — only to discover that upgrading a house does not upgrade what home means. Manoj Pahwa plays his father, with Neelu Kohli and Aurra Bhatnagar also starring, and the film is produced by Terribly Tiny Tales.

The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia, is reported to arrive on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, November 6, after its theatrical release on September 25. Treat that date with care: reports describe it as expected rather than officially confirmed by the makers or Prime Video, and one report suggests it could initially be available on a rental basis. Check your Prime Video listing in the US or Canada before planning a watch party around it.

Two more Indian titles are reported for November 6 and need the same listing check. Haiwaan, the Priyadarshan thriller starring Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar, is reported for SonyLIV on November 6, while Dulquer Salmaan’s Malayalam action thriller I’m Game is reported for JioHotstar on November 6. JioHotstar’s full service is available in Canada but not in the USA, so Canadian viewers should check JioHotstar directly and US viewers should check their local listing rather than assuming either title will appear; the same caution applies to SonyLIV, whose US and Canada catalogues differ from India’s.

Here is the Filmverse take: for diaspora families, Diwali week streaming is now a split screen. The cinema trip is Ramayana on the big screen, and the at-home watch is Dilwali Diwali — a story about an NRI son coming home that lands differently when you are watching it from thousands of miles away from that home. That is why the confirmed Netflix date matters more than the reported ones: in a week full of “reportedly streaming” headlines, the film you can actually press play on, on the night, is the one the family gathers around.

Sources: Netflix India, Koimoi, Esquire India, Jay-Ho — The Vvaan, Haiwaan and I’m Game dates are reported, not officially confirmed; check your local listing.