The year is only two weeks old, and the bells of doom have tolled for the film industry. The New Year has brought the Hindi film industry down with a thud, with Tevar having failed. Though it’s early to talk about the money raked in or lost, the much-awaited Vikram starrer I has got mixed reviews.
Blockbusters with the biggest of stars shot on the most stunning locations and produced at obnoxiously high budgets, which could have fed the starving population of 50 villages for five years, have bitten the dust in both Bollywood and the South.
Last year, too, many spectacular films failed to perform at the box office. The infallible Rajinikanth had two back-to-back flops Kochadaiyaan and Lingaa.
While Salman Khan’s Id release Kick raised a storm, his Republic Day special Jai Ho made at a reported cost of Rs 65 crore was a turkey.
Other big-ticket Bollywood bonanzas of 2014 which failed include Prabhu Deva’s Action Jackson, Shaad Ali’s Kill Dil, Sajid Khan’s Humshakals, Sajid-Farhad’s Entertainment and Habib Faisal’s Daawat-e-Ishq (the latter three were distributed by the illustrious Yash Raj Films).
Trade experts claim even films which have been declared big hits like Farah Khan’s Happy New Year and Siddharth Anand’s Bang Bang have under-performed. Is the pan-India audience trying to tell filmmakers that spectacle without content is unacceptable?
Subhash Ghai, who once gave big blockbusters like Hero, Ram Lakhan etc., was unable to impress audiences with his latest Kaanchi. He says, “The audience is clearly telling us, ‘Enough of mammoth productions. Tell us a good story’.”
Director S.S. Rajamouli, who is readying his period film Baahubali, says, “Audiences rejecting big films is not new. People have always had a certain level of expectation from every film based on the actors, producers, music and trailer of each product. If a particular film doesn’t reach up to audiences’ expectations it won’t be received well. It’s as simple as that.”
Producer, writer and politician Pritish Nandy, too, feels the same. “They are clearly saying they want better content. ‘We’re bored. We want a break from the cycle of predictable glitz, glam and gore’.”
Subhash Kapoor, who scored a big hit with small-budget content-driven Jolly LLB, says, “In the past six months, we have increasingly observed the snubbing of formulaic fare by the audience. If a film lacks content, then audience isn’t interested, period. Eye-catching locations, death-defying stunts and items songs are not enough.”
