Skip to main content

Is the End Near for Bollywood? Heck No Way!

"The End Is Near"

Naysayers are having a field day spelling doom for Bollywood, the common nickname of the Hindi commercial film industry.


Take numbers - There have been hardly any massive hits or blockbusters last year from Bollywood. Top-rated superstars have seen their films crashing at the box office. Nothing seems to be working - neither big-budget blingy escapades, nor feel-good social dramas, romantic capers or senseless comedies that used to rake in the moolah in the past. 

The word-of-mouth and vibe is at an all-time low. So much so, superstars or mega stars have had to plead to people to not boycott their films. Bollywood biggies are approaching southern directors to endorse their films, or are tying up for joint ventures. 

Will remakes do the magic? Will super-hero movies - high on CGI effects, bring the audience back to the halls? Will war movies or patriotism or jingoism riddled stuff work? ---NAAH


Never before has the Hindi commercial film industry - one that has millions of lives dependent on it, faced such an existential crisis. Nothing seems to be working.

Now all hopes are pinned on Pathan and Tiger 3, but my guess is after the initial euphoria wears off, these will do averagely too.

So, what will work? Why is it that senseless, jingoism laden, high-octane masculine energy fuelled stuff works for South Indian movies, but not for Bollywood?

My 2-bits for introspection and rejuvenation:

  • Today, people have plenty of options of entertainment now that the internet and OTT space has flooded us with exciting content. Who wants to pay 3-400 bucks to watch routine stuff in multiplexes where even a samosa costs over 100 bucks? And there is not guarantee that the whole effort will be worth it.
  • South blockbusters work because people don't have high expectations from these. Any ingenuity or twist of plot receives delighted wonder from the audience. (Wow didn't expect this!)Also the elements of earthiness, melodrama, over-the-top dramatic elements satisfy the too-busy-to-apply-brains audience, fiddling with the mobile in the hall. 

  • Attention spans are pathetic. A 10-sec reel or a 2-minute video seems like all that can hold people's eyeballs. How can a 2 hour film expect people to invest their time and attention in it? 
  • Realism is a given shock is better, grunge is good, but you have to crack that formula of what exactly works.
  • A strong story is a MUST. People are not willing to invest their time if you don't spin a great yarn.
  • Cut out the frills and gimmicks, please. Foreign locations, item numbers, tracks featuring non-binary characters as side-kicks are passe. Even sex scenes or gory violence tracks fail because of overkill.
In the end, Bollywood films must give something that OTT platforms and over-the-top films don't give. Think back to Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Ramesh Sippy, Gulzar, Muzaffar Ali, Vidhu Vinod Chopra films. 

Bring that magic back...


#BollywoodCrisis #BollywoodExistentialDilemma #WhyBollywoodFilmsAreNotWorking


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

All We Imagine as Light- Lyricism on Celluloid

When an Indian film makes it the prestigious Cannes film festival, the world sits up and takes notice! And the lovely ladies swinging on the stage is a recent memory that brings a sense of pride. I had the good fortune to catch this film on screen recently. A review of such work is unnecessary, but still am bursting to say a few words. Right from the scintillating background score, to the events that unfold like pages fluttering in an open book, to the effortless performances, it's a masterpiece all right! The first half romances Mumbai- in the rains, at night, in the bazaars, in dingy rooms, in the local trains. Image source: Wikipedia  The second half shows what light truly is, brilliant sunshine, crashing waves and salty air in a small coastal village in Maharashtra. You can feel the taste of salt, the breeze in your hair and the touch of sand under your feet, the cinematography is so real. Payal Kapadia masters the art of holding back, of showing beauty in the mundane. The hosp...

Guru Dutt - Legacy of an Overlooked Genius

"Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaae to Kya Hai:" This heartfelt anguish was literally personified by film maker and actor extraordinaire - Guru Dutt, whose birth centenary happens to be tomorrow (July 9).  Maestro or Failed Genius? All his life, he strove to depict his vision, his dreams on celluloid. Yet, even as he strove for success, for renown, he was a bit of a recluse, a black sheep himself. It was as if he wanted to challenge the language of popular cinema by being within the format, from the inside. His women had brains, taxi drivers and masseurs were philosophers, sex workers pined for spiritual ecstasy, and friendships blossomed between unlikely people. Common people on the street spoke wiser logic than academics or high-nosed editors. The topics of the films may seem dated now, but the eternal truths voiced in them remain relevant.   His films were distinctly different from other popular Hindi films. They had all the commercial elements of song, dance, comedy, romanc...

All Work and No Life - Off Runs the Wife!

The recent ramblings of some elderly gentlemen (one a company founder, another a CEO) on how much we many hours we should be working, are symptomatic of all that is kaput with corporate India. The reason we have so few cases of innovators and path-breakers. The reason why Nadella and Pichai shine overseas. The reason start-ups and entrepreneurial attempts fail faster than you can say 1,2,3. These guys have got all the mathematics wrong!  Machismo and Hot Air I find these announcements to be glaring examples of the inherent tendencies of machismo, bullying, slavery, high-handedness privileged males in our country are used to.  At home, when raja beta works, rest of the family keeps quiet. When he needs food, wifey supplies it. Shhh, raja beta is sleeping, don't make noise. Don't irritate him, get him a cup of hot tea/coffee, quick, he's tired from working all day. You get the drift? The whole ecosystem in the workplace is designed to reward the raja beta slaving away rather ...