IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL WEB SERIES –MONEY HEIST ON THE YOUTH OF GUJARAT REGION

In the era of digital cinema, web series is the revolutionary audio-visual format. They introduced us to Over-The-Top, Video- On-Demand binge-watching. Moreover, international OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon prime video, HBO max, and Disney+ have started to produce their premium and original content with the aim to grow their reach in every possible country; it created lots of opportunities for new filmmakers and production houses. Money Heist is the best suitable example of a journey from flop to success. After the relaunch and distribution in the essential international without advertising catalogue by Netflix, it became a huge success. It got the third rank among the most-watched popular web series globally. This study focuses on the Money Heist's audience behavior pattern, the impact of the series, its characters, and retention power towards the young cohort of the Gujarat region. This research was conducted with the empirical quantitative method; the researcher used the convenience sampling technique for sample collection. The results solved all the research questions with an adequate positive approach. Distinctive characteristics of the Money heist web series made it a top-rated, addictive, and popular show that became local to global to again local.


INTRODUCTION
For many years, audio-visual art forms and literary works such as folk theatre, various types of films, T.V. series, music videos, theatre, numerous more fora have been the most famous among people worldwide, like watching 'web series' at present. Web series are becoming a new audio-visual format for receiving a higher dosage of entertainment. The habit of 'binge-watching' has been found in the majority of web series audiences. With the popularity of YouTube and other Over-The-Top (OTT) services like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, HBO max, Hulu, etc. Thus, everyone has undoubtedly heard of the phrase "web series." Web series are comparable to television shows or serials, except that a web show (webisode) is seen on the internet rather than on cable television. Thus, anyone can view a web series without a release in cinema halls.
A webisode's duration differs significantly from that of a T.V program. A conventional television show lasts 30 to 60 minutes; however, a webisode has no time limit. Depending on the creators, it can take any length from 5 to 60 minutes. The advantage of a web series is that viewers do not have to wait until next week to find out who was killed by whom. Instead, you can watch the next webisode and figure it out. However, big online shows are nowadays separated into seasons, so the viewers must wait until the following season to find out what happens next. For example, Game of Thrones is split into eight seasons.
This new entertainment medium has opened up a world of opportunities for artists, authors, independent producers, directors, and all other film production experts who want to present their artistic work for a fraction of the cost of traditional big-budget films. That means that everyone with a fantastic idea can produce their online content; Anyone may create their own web series by opening a YouTube channel. A web series has the potential to become extraordinarily successful or "go viral" when it is watched online throughout the world, and it may even be "picked up" or signed for distribution by big T.V. and film production houses.
Since last year, the Money Heist web series has been the most trending and debatable show among the mainstream OTT platforms. Money heist, aka "LA CASA DE PAPEL" web series, was an unexpected package from the beginning. This story began in 2017; it was released on a free Spanish tv channel: 'Antena 3'. Initially, even they started very well with 4.5 million viewers. The first season did very well, but viewership gradually fell in the second season. It dropped by half, and the audience kept getting smaller. It was tough for all the cast and crew of the series.
After that, Netflix came on board and purchased the rights. At the end of 2017, Netflix released web series in their international catalogue. Still, the makers and actors of the series did not expect anything from it as it was launched without advertising. It simply appeared in the catalogue and was part of Netflix's basic catalogue. Adhikari (2020) Suddenly, it was being watched abroad and even more than in Spain. They realised that people had a bond with the series, which went beyond just entertainment. This likeliness was evident through the impact that it has had on people around the world and their expectations of the series. None of the actors realised it; their lives and reality changed utterly. They started getting millions of followers on social media from many countries. Because of the growing popularity of this series, Netflix asked them to carry out another robbery as a part of the script. Later Netflix gave a considerable budget to create two new seasons with sixteen episodes. This time they filmed in many different countries. They did not even leave Madrid to shoot essential scenes in the first two seasons. Alfaro (2020) This story of failure to succeed trigged the researcher to do this study. Money Heist is in the first position in the category of most-watched international 'non-English' shows with an IMDB rating of 8.6.
A web series is a collection of scripted or unscripted internet videos that are typically set on the pattern of tv serials. After initially appearing on the internet in the mid-1980s, web series gained popularity early in the new millennium. Quittner (2001) Web television is original episodic material created for Internet broadcast. Web television in general, including the broadcasting of internet programs developed for online and traditional cable or satellite broadcast stations, is often referred to as "web series." Web series are now regarded as a potential alternative to television. The web series format has grown in popularity, particularly among young people. Major OTT operators like Netflix India and Amazon Prime have also begun producing original web shows aimed at a worldwide audience. It has unpredictability in its stories and spends much time portraying the current condition. Web series are not time-bound; they may be seen at any time and from any location. People are desperate to see the next web series episode IWMBuzz (2019). Covid-19 has boosted the already thriving web series and VOD (video-ondemand) markets. The fact that web series have experienced sustained growth in recent years demonstrates that they are more than a boon for viewers looking for high-quality entertainment. People in India are increasingly interested in web series since they can watch them depending on their tastes and personality attributes. Adhikari (2020).
This research examines the retention capability, impact of series and its characters, and audience behaviour pattern over the young audience of the Gujarat state. The observance of these three influential factors may result in the mostwatched non-English series Money Heist able to significantly impact the youth of Gujarati culture. Moreover, the survey forms' responses may answer that Gujaratis are interested in watching this content that does not belong to Bollywood or Hollywood. This study will benefit aspirant researchers and students from film studies, film production, media and communication, business, and management backgrounds.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Film, television, and music are the top domestic and export goods in India, according to Mehta & Kaye, 2021. In their paper 'Pushing the Next Level: Investigating Digital Content Creation in India,' they explored that digital media channels have drastically altered the world of content generation. According to the paper, prospective studies should use an additional complete framework to analyse online content creators.
Rodríguez et al. (2020) discovered a shift in the Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) Twitter account's communication strategy, as well as the social audience's activities and their link to Spain's lockdown, in their study "Release of the Fourth Season of Money Heist: Analysis of Its Social Audience on Twitter during Lockdown in Spain." Točená (2020) concluded in her research, "MONEY HEIST OR HOW NETFLIX FOUND A LOST GEM IN THE LINEAR TELEVISION'S 'JUNKYARD", that because of the benefits and positive consequences of companies like Netflix operating in the media industry, new trends in presenting episodic content via Internet-distributed television platforms-especially concerning the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Money Heist's episodic television drama got unexpected success, although it was initially developed for a 'typical' television audience.
In their book, 'European Television Crime Drama and Beyond, ' Hansen et al. (2018) noted that Alex Pina, the core creator of the Money Heist, used his own independent production company to make the stylish La Casa De Papel/Money Heist (2017), which was distributed internationally by Netflix. Mónica (2020), Netflix Espaa has centred its efforts on the worldwide dissemination of Spanish works that were previously aired on broadcast television, according to her study "Netflix in Spain, Spain in Netflix -In Handbook of Research on Transmedia Storytelling, Audience Engagement, and Business Strategies." Through a study of Nielsen audience data, the article 'Reconceptualising the function of habit: A new model of television audience activity' investigates the function of habit in determining audience behaviour. Comparisons are made between individuals' workday and weekend watching patterns using a structural equation model to see if commonalities exist despite structural and programmatic variations in those periods. The results demonstrate that habit has a severe influence on watching behaviour. Rosenstein and Grant (1997) According to Deloitte's annual "Digital Democracy Survey," around 73% of U.S. Video material has been binge-watched by audiences. (Watching three or so even supplementary episodes of a single show/series in a single sitting). This bingewatching habit is an increase from the 68% who claimed they watched marathons in 2015. Approximately 49% of U.S. customers use at least one subscription streaming video service. Deloitte (2015) As previously stated, India is one of the chart-toppers to keep an eye on. According to a 2017 redif.com article, We Indians Love Binge-Watching, "Indians were likely to gulp up numerous episodes of such web T.V. series in three days." Raha (2017) Audience behaviour patterns, binge-watching, and the impact of a particular film or series of unique genres were analysed based on different geographical factors. Numerous studies have been conducted on the Money Heist web series and its contribution to Netflix and the Spanish T.V. industry, its business and marketing techniques, and its effects during the lockdown. Many professional researchers and writers have written many journal articles and research papers regarding the impact of binge-watching, television audience activity, the impact of digital platforms on news audience behaviour, and many more focused on audience behaviour patterns. Various studies and discussions give an overview of web series worldwide and in particular countries. However, there is significantly less research on the impact and audience behaviour pattern engrossed in web series, especially for the Money Heist over India and its states. This study may give the results of these three factors and their influence on the youth audience of the Gujarat region.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research aims to investigate and comprehend the impact of the Money Heist web series on the Gujarat region's younger generation audience. An 18-item questionnaire was used to assess hypotheses and research topics. The questionnaire consisted primarily of a Likert scale five-point response scale, which allowed for expressing an opinion toward the Money Heist web series, impact of overall web series, characters, watching behaviour, and retention ability toward the web series.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1) What is the audience behaviour pattern for watching the Money Heist web series in the youth of the Gujarat region? 2) What is the retention ability of the audience for the Money Heist web series over the youth of the Gujarat region?

OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH
1) To study the audience behaviour for the Money Heist web series over the youngsters over Gujarat state. 2) To analyse the retention ability of the audience towards the Money Heist web series in Gujarat state.

HYPOTHESIS
The research hypotheses are prediction assertions that link an independent variable to a dependent variable. The following two assumptions guided the conduct of this study: H 0.1 : There is no significant behaviour pattern for the Money Heist web series in the youth audience of the Gujarat region.
H 1 : There is a significant audience behaviour pattern for the Money Heist web series in the youth audience of the Gujarat region.
H 0.2 : There is no significant retention ability of the Money Heist web series over the young audience of the Gujarat region.
H 2 : There is a significant retention ability of the Money Heist web series over the young audience of the Gujarat region.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The questionnaire consisted primarily of Likert-type items using a five-point response scale, which allowed for expressing an opinion toward the Money Heist web series, impact of overall web series, characters, watching behaviour, and retention aptitude toward the web series. Additionally, the instrument measured demographic characteristics-age, gender, location, occupation, and residence.
After confirming whether they had seen a single series of Money Heist or not, a structured questionnaire was passed to the audience, especially the younger generation across the Gujarat state. Convenience sampling has been used for data collection by the researcher. The questionnaires were developed based on the researcher's previous qualitative research about an in-depth analysis of characters from the Money Heist web series, personal observance, review after watching this web series, and a documentary film named 'Money Heist: The Phenomenon.' The purpose of each question was to provide the information necessary to meet the research objectives. After the questions of demographic and basic information regarding the Money Heist web series, the researcher created three sections, including the Five Point Likert scale method for asking the questions, which were divided according to research objectives: - • Audience behaviour pattern • Impact of series' characters • Overall production, impression, and retention capability of web series

DATA SOURCE
The sample size consisted of 150 participants from every direction of Gujarat state. Nevertheless, the maximum number of respondents were from major cities, Ahmedabad (61), Gandhinagar (23), and Rajkot (12). In addition, there are several respondents from Surat, Navsari, Valsad, and Vadodara. The study could also include a few views and single respondents from Jamnagar, Junagadh, Vapi, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Bhuj, and Bhavnagar. Additionally, it includes rural areas like Lalpur (Jamnagar), Botad, Dhandhunka, Punsri (Aravalli), Gambhoi (Sabarkantha), and Raisan (Gandhinagar) as well.
The study incorporated views of both male (108) and female (40) audiences ranging from the age group of 12 to 42 years, out of which maximum responses were collected from the age group of 18 -26(123). Likewise, the researcher used the Money Heist web series, Money Heist: The Phenomenon -a Netflix original documentary film, YouTube videos, articles, blogs, journals, and books as secondary data. Finally, the researcher used this data as indirect observation and interpretation.

TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
The researcher used convenience sampling to collect samples as the interviewees were 'convenient.' These responses are primary data for this research and are used to examine the observations. The sample size consisted of 150 participants from every direction of Gujarat state. The survey findings are encoded in the excel document. The data obtained was input into a data file and analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The researcher has also used infographics to display and clarification of data analysis.

LIMITATIONS
The following limitations were found in the research work: -1) The research was conducted from a sample space of 150 respondents received from the Gujarat state only. 2) Most of the respondents were students from prominent universities, so a subscription to Netflix was affordable. Thus, there is a scope for future research to gather sampling in depth.
3) The study focused on three primary objectives: audience behaviour pattern, the impact of web series, its characters, and the retention capability of web series. In addition, there might be multiple research scopes for researchers from other backgrounds like psychology, sociology, management and marketing, literature, etc. 4) The majority of respondents were from large developing cities, so there would be future possibilities for improvement in sampling to cover more small towns, regions, and villages of Gujarat. 5) Lastly, the constraints of a particular researcher were present during the study process. Yet, despite these restraints, the researcher anticipated fruitful results.

DATA ANALYSIS
After using a specific research methodology, the researcher analysed the data using SPSS and Excel software. Finally, the researcher displays all the collected and analysed data with the help of scale graphs and various pie charts. It includes demographics of respondents, fundamental questions about Money heist, audience behaviour patterns, the impact of characters, and overall production, impression, and retention capability of web series.  The researcher, distributer of web series, or even the series makers can identify how much Money Heist web series has been performed or watched in various districts of Gujarat state. So, most of the respondents belong to Gujarat's landmark city, Ahmedabad (40.7%). The second rank goes to Gandhinagar (capital of Gujarat), valued at 15.3%. After that, 19.4% were covered by respondents from other big cities like Rajkot (8%), Navsari (4.7%), Surat (4.0%), and Vadodara (2.7%). The last 24% came from the respondents from small districts, towns, and other small villages. Netflix is a luxury in India, and perhaps because of its high charge, everyone cannot afford it. So, people use alternatives like telegram, torrent, Thop TV, etc., to see Netflix's premium content. This question aimed to know that out of total respondents, how many saw the Money Heist on Netflix and how many people used other ways to enjoy the series. As a result, 64.7% of respondents watched the Money Heist on Netflix, and it is at its peak. 30% of people used the 'Telegram' application to watch the series, the second highest. Only 5.3% used other websites to download the torrent files of the web series.
The significant respondents are from the age group 18 -26 and 26-32, which means Money Heist got the most views. People from this age like to watch untraditional content, and they are always ok to watch scenes that include violence, sex, and nudity. Secondly, there are significantly fewer people in the age group 12 -18 and 32 -40. Money heist is an 18+ show, but it still got viewers from age 12 to 18, which means teens are also interested in surreptitiously overseeing this kind of series. In Gujarat, people aged 32 -40 used to be busy because of work, but some respondents still saw this series. It is impossible to see this kind of series with family in Gujarati culture, which means everyone has seen this web series secretly. Netflix can target people from age 32 to 40 to get more subscriptions. A person from age 42 who watched this series may like exploring new content. This series has been watched primarily by students and professionals. Relatively few people were from a business background, perhaps because people from some areas are not highly educated or unaware that there is content available like Money heist. If Netflix can grab their attention, it will be profitable.
The primary audience of this web series lives in urban areas. Still, we can see an effective result that this series found viewers from semi-urban and rural areas. Perhaps it is possible because of people's word of mouth done of this web series. Many respondents were from small villages like Godhra, Ubhran, Shahpur, Vasad, Gambhoi, Bilimora, Kheralu, Botad, Punsri, Modasa, Ankleshwar, Punsri, and Lalpur. It proves that viewers will automatically increase for any content whenever the technology with a creative perspective reaches the rural area.      As we can see, the professor is everyone's favourite character in this series because Gujarati youngsters fall in love with the professor's intelligence. After that, Berlin comes to fame because of his unique character traits. Everyone appreciated actor Pedro Alonso's intense acting skills in the role of Berlin. According to the makers, this character was so strong that he could harm the effectiveness of the whole series. Moreover, because of the various characteristics of every character, many respondents could relate to them. Nevertheless, most respondents chose heist members (multi protagonists of series).      Most of the audience is aware that the Money Heist is Spanish drama series, and its makers and actors are from Spain. However, few said it is from the USA, U.K., or Iran. Maybe because people in Gujarat see cinema or audio-visual content just for entertainment purposes, they do not go deep into that, as many people believe that English content only comes from the USA or U.K. They are not aware of international cinema. Around 46% of people saw this series on alternative pirated applications like telegram and torrent. Piracy is a big problem globally, and even Gujarat is no exception. Another primary reason is that most Gujaratis in this research belong to middle-class families. According to figure 2, the number of people is significantly less who have seen only one or only two or three seasons. It means people who found season one as least interesting, which is why they stopped watching it. Another reason may be that the makers are not familiar with these respondents. Even in some cases, it is possible that they are waiting for season 5 and will bingewatch all the series together. Astonishingly, most people watched this series in English, and around 10% watched this in its original language, European Spanish. It is outrageous because Netflix released a Hindi dubbed version also. Furthermore, most people prefer to watch foreign movies/series in the Hindi language in Gujarat. It is possible due to crisp dialogue writing in the web series.  The significant population approves that Money Heist characters are more impactful than the story. The audience feels empathy toward the protagonist characters, even though they know they are robbers and doing erroneous work. However, most respondents were neutral about whether they were influenced by the characters or not; maybe they just watched the series only for entertainment purposes.  Mass of the respondents, 42.0%, strongly agreed that red jumpsuits and the unique Dali mask made a deep impression on their minds, and due to that, everyone said that it makes the story more interesting. While significantly less, only 0.7% of respondents disagree with it. In the second position, 40.0% agree though only 4.0% disagree in the second last position. Figure 11: Responses on Fast Paced screenplay and lots of twists forced respondents to watch the whole series Out of the total respondents, 46.7%, everyone strongly agreed that fast-paced screenplay and unpredictable twists and turns triggered them to watch the whole web series. The lowest, only 1.3% audience, opposed it and selected the strongly disagree option. 39.3% agree, and only 4.7% of respondents disagree with the parroted question. 8.0% of respondents do not have any opinions.

Figure 12
Figure 12: Responses to whether Respondents have been influenced to do a Heist and Protest the Government 7.3% strongly agreed, and 46.7% strongly disagreed with the total respondents when the researcher asked how they felt about doing a heist and protesting against the government after watching the Money Heist series. It is agreed by only 9.3% and disagreed by 20.7% out of the total respondents. 16.3% of people do not have any views on this asked question.

Figure 13
Figure 13: Responses to whether there were illogical Parts that were skipped while watching the Series 14.7% of the total audience strongly agrees, and 9.3% disagree with the raised query by the researcher. The highest of the troop, 36.0%, agreed, and 9.3% disagreed with it. Thus, 32.7% of the total respondents have not given the green light to any opinion. Above half of the audience, 56.0%, strongly agreed that music, art direction, cinematography, and direction in the Money Heist web series played a significant role in impressing them. In contrast, only a single respondent disagreed with it, valued at 0.7%. Only 7.3% were neutral at this time. Especially vital that no one contradicts this truth.
The idea of red jumpsuits and Dali masks by the series' creators succeeds in winning the Gujrati audience's heart as impressive numbers of them powerfully agreed with it and said it made a deep impression on their minds and made the storytelling more thought-provoking. Crusty and high-speed screenplay with suspense and unpredictability forced prominent respondents to see all the 'Money heist' seasons. A larger audience believes that Money heist is all about action rather than logic. A cluster of respondents stalwartly disagreed; A lot of them did not feel that they would even protest and heist after watching this series. Numerous people ignored action scenes and illogical sequences while watching. That means the visual appeal of this series perfectly fits with bullet theory and that scenes worked like a bullet. A widely held audience agreed that other aspects of filmmaking, like direction, music, art direction, etc., played a substantial part in impressing them; Simultaneously, the mouth-to-mouth publicity enhanced them to watch this series. That means Netflix played its role very well with solid marketing skills post two seasons and its exceptional popularity.

DISCUSSIONS
This subchapter is mainly for hypothesis testing. The results from every survey section will be more towards agreement than the alternative hypothesis will be accepted. The null hypothesis will be accepted if it is more in the direction of strongly disagreeing and disagreeing.
H 0.1 : There is no significant behaviour pattern for the Money Heist web series in the youth audience of the Gujarat region: Rejected H 1 : There is a significant audience behaviour pattern for the Money Heist web series in the youth audience of the Gujarat region: Accepted

DISCUSSION
Majorly young respondents from the Gujarat region have seen all four web series seasons. They know that this series is available on Netflix, and it is a Spanish crime drama. A large audience has seen this web series in the English language on Netflix. That means this series gave its best contribution to the welcome of Netflix in Gujarat state. A little group also loved to watch this series in European Spanish and Hindi languages. Several people believe that The Money Heist is a must-watch web series, which is why people binge-watched it in a significant quantity. A group of people strongly agreed that they and their friends had seen this web series during lockdown 2020 in India. Tightly hooked screenplays and surprises after every few scenes forced a crowd to watch the whole series. As these results draw more towards strongly agree, we have to reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis H0.1 that there is a significant behaviour pattern for the Money Heist web series in the youth audience of the Gujarat region.
H 0.2 : There is no significant retention ability of the Money Heist web series over the young audience of the Gujarat region: Rejected H 2 : There is a significant retention ability of the Money Heist web series over the young audience of the Gujarat region: Accepted

DISCUSSION
The responses from this research reflect whether the Money heist web series' have any retention power or not. Since most of the respondents agreed that the fastpaced screenplay triggered them to watch the whole series, it is clear that the writing of this series has an extensive retention capability in it. Many audiences strongly disagreed that four seasons and their lengthy episodes do not make the Money heist web series boring. Almost every respondent still remembers the primary characters with their names and looks as people could relate to the characters of Money Heist. The concept of red jumpsuits and the Dali mask made an in-depth impression on the Gujrati audience. Keeping the neutrals aside majority agrees that seasons three and four have repetitive story elements. Many respondents were neutral because they had not seen these seasons very sharply, or they were lost in watching these seasons' action scenes and beautiful locations. Moreover, several respondents strongly agreed that they ignored unreal action scenes and illogical sequences while watching them. 92% of total respondents agreed that they could recall the most significant characters, visuals, and scenes because of other facets of filmmaking like music (Songs -Bella Ciao and My life is going on), Art direction, cinematography, etc. So, with this noticeable evidence, we have to reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis, which draws on the statement that there is a significant retention ability of the Money Heist web series over the young audience of the Gujarat region.

CONCLUSION
'Rags to riches' is a perfect phrase for this web series because it was initially released on a Spanish T.V. network Antena 3 and flopped. Still, it reached local to global and again local after being distributed by Netflix. This web series, its makers, all cast, and crew got high-rise recognition across the globe as they deserved it. Money Heist's all seasons have seen big cities, but also it got many views from small towns and unknown villages of the Gujarat state. State's College students are the biggest audience of this web series. The extent and excellence of audience behaviour pattern, the impact of series/characters, and retention supremacy of the Money Heist web series are extreme among the young generation audience of the Gujarat region. Therefore, most viewers were influenced by this series and its characters, which made a remarkable impact in the Gujarat region. Money heist web series has the jam-packed potential of remembrance and retentiveness abilities for these reasons that that larger audience like to binge-watch it; Money Heist is the most addicting series on Netflix because of all these great traits. Hence the Money heist made the mark in the current trends of OTT content and binge-watching.

SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
The study focused on the difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the researcher had to expend substantial resources, such as developing electronic questionnaire documents distributed to respondents via emails, WhatsApp, Messenger, and a Google Document link. As a result, a significant amount of time was spent aggregating the data. However, respondents were from all over Gujarat state; subsequently, this research can be done in other states across India. Furthermore, the study can be done in less dominant locations, various age groups or any other variable questions like the effects of the Italian fascist song 'Bella ciao,' psychological effects on binge viewers, the income of individual respondents, relationship status, and with many more factors for an exhaustive topic study may be employed.