In the last couple of years, the Indian Film Industry, popularly known as ‘Bollywood’, has been facing upheaval. The Indian Cinema holds a lot of power in influencing its audience using male-led stories to make the public believe that their ‘heroes’ can do no wrong.
Source:- https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vectors/bollywood-logo-background-vectors
The country has been known for its prestigious Mumbai-based film industry and remains by far one of the largest filmmaking industries all around the world, be it Amitabh Bachhan’s acting, Shahrukh Khan’s dialogues, Madhuri Dixit’s dancing skills or Priyanka Chopra’s success in the Hollywood industry. The stars, the stories, the music is what makes Bollywood proud and what it is today.
But aren't we witnessing saturation?
Each year thousands of people aspire to become stars in the movie industry and yet we see the same set of leading actors running the business. I personally as a viewer am bored of seeing the same repetitive faces on the big screen. Every filmmaker is trying to create something massive and with a big budget, bringing in a new face increases the risk. But in order to do the same they have kind of neglected what the audience wants, ‘entertainment’ and moreover "change". The year of pandemic i.e. 2020 led to the shelving of a lot of ongoing and planned projects, the year following that i.e. 2021 the majority of the industry was accused in the ‘drugs’ case, which inevitably forced the audience to not idealize their favorite actors as heroes who can do no wrong.
The said case was the biggest turmoil the showbiz had to go through.
Source:- News18
Therefore to cover up for the lost time and money, the industry is currently bringing back the projects that were initially set aside and more or less they are the same kind of stories and the audience is bound to get bored by watching the same category of content over and over again.
Movies like ‘Dil chahta hai’, ‘Dilwale dhulaniya le jayenge’, ‘Zindagi na Milegi Doobara’, ‘Uri: the surgical strike’. ‘Lagaan’, ;’Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, ‘3 idiots’ were massive hits on the box office because they connected with the general audience. These movies were entertaining, warm and fun to watch with families. The stories were portrayed in a very organic manner and it is not just about the stories, its about how the story is picturised on the big screen. Screenplays a very important role, good music also has a significant role in engaging and attracting the audience. And the movie titles stated above are some of the prime examples that having a good sound track throughout the film also uplifts the total performance of the movie in the eyes of the audience.
In other words, the people in the business are repetitively making similar kinds of content. I personally go to the theatre for entertainment as much as I, as a viewer appreciate biopics and stories based on real-life events. I would not choose to watch movies touching a heavy subject every time. And hence when we compare the success of ‘Jug Jug Jeeyo’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ and all the other movies that flopped at the box office in the same year, it was because they were both light, fun, and entertaining to watch with families.
Source:- https://www.koimoi.com/box-office/jugjugg-jeeyo-box-office-advance-booking-report-heres-where-it-is-standing-in-comparison-to-bhool-bhulaiyaa-2/
The audience is not going to the theatres because of the name of a certain actor in it, that was made evident when films like ‘Vikram Vedha’ starring Hritik Roshan, ‘Shamshera’ starring Ranbir Kapoor, ‘Lal Singh Chaddha’ starring Amir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan and Samrat Prithvi Raj starring ‘ Akshay Kumar’ and ‘Miss World 2017 Manushi Chillar’ did not show desired results at the box office. What the viewers desire is new and good stories.
The filmmakers will have to realize the fact that the audience now demands quality over quantity. We have seen the amount of sequels a certain franchise has had because the first ones were a hit. Taking an example of the ‘Race’ series, the first movie of the franchise starred; Akshay Khanna, Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif and Bipasha Basu and it made great numbers on the box office in the year of its release. The second one ‘Race 2’ did well too. Casting ‘Salman Khan’ in the third franchise was because of his stardom and fame but that didn't turn out in his favor. The movie performed terribly at the box office. Same happened with ‘Dhoom’ franchise.
Learning from that the filmmakers have to understand that the audience has grown up with time and they do not want to watch the same kind of films they were watching as kids. It has to be something new, engaging and the kind of content that attracts the audience of today.
There has to be a balance between the kind of content the makers in the industries put out.
What is missing is ‘Freshness’
Article by:- Anannya Varshney
Edited by:- J Shree Nidhi
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