Bollywood, one of the largest film industries in India and worldwide, has been struggling since the pandemic and has not had a huge comeback post that. At the beginning of COVID, it could have been owed to the theatres not functioning fully-fledged. However, even with complete recovery, the movies have failed to attain the same level of success. Even though there were some hit films last year, 2024 has failed to produce any blockbusters, with almost all films failing to hit the mark. Does the sustenance of the industry actually depend upon recycling content and not bringing anything fresh to the table? While exploring the motion pictures released in the past twenty years, a certain trend can be noticed in the way a blockbuster will lead to a number of other movies which have similar plots with nothing more than an illusion of uniqueness. This takes the form of either cliched movies, which are very generic in nature and lack original thought, or films, which use the same template over and over until the audience becomes bored with it. An example of the former would be the sort of male-centric ‘hero’ movies, which are heavily focused on action sequences to showcase the lead’s masculinity, paired up with a couple of item songs and a female character who could be easily replaced by an inanimate object. Although the interest shown by audiences towards such content has considerably decreased, the conception hasn’t completely gone out of existence. The plethora of films, such as the ‘Race’ franchise, the ‘Baaghi’ series and 'Animal', makes it difficult to even watch any movie with such cliched plot lines without feeling a sense of deja vu. When it comes to the latter trend, it is comparatively a newer one, which could be noticed since the early 2010s, primarily when filmmakers realised that movies related to sports are a treat to watch for an Indian audience. This led to the abundance of sports-centric material in the Indian film industry, which all follow the same formula where the protagonist has to overcome hurdles to become a sportsperson, and the films end with the main lead winning an exceptional award in their field. Even though movies like ‘MS Dhoni - The Untold Story’, ‘Sultan’, ‘Gold’ have been well received by the audience, they have saturated the genre to the point where newer sports movies and biopics trying to apply the same recipe such as ‘Maidaan’ and ‘Ghoomar’ haven't received that level of appreciation and have failed at the box office. Bollywood’s tendency to remake movies (that did well in the theatres) from other languages has sustained for decades now. From the so-called classic movies such as ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ and ‘Hera Pheri’ to much newer hits such as ‘Drishyam’ and ‘Mili ‘, are all remakes of Malayalam films. Though taking inspiration from pictures on different celluloid is not essentially a bad thing, an excess of it showcases a lack of new ideas. Looking through these lenses, it might seem like Bollywood is on a decline. However, the movies that are being released on OTT platforms tell a different story. Since the pandemic forced cinema halls to shut down, the OTT platforms have had a massive boost, with an increasing number of people consuming media through such platforms. This leads to the argument that more and more people are choosing to entertain themselves through content showcased online not just because of convenience but also because of its originality and niche storytelling. A recent example would be the film, ‘Laapata Ladies’, which has been a huge success on Netflix. It is one of those stories which makes you wonder if it would have received the same amount of viewership had it been released only on the big screen. Films like these help with the belief that there is hope for new visuals aesthetically, intellectually and emotionally. Although movies with minimal plots are coming to the theatres, a shift can be noticed in the way audiences have been reacting to them. With the rise of pictures on OTT platforms, the standard of movies has also seen a rise, which leads to people expecting more from filmmakers than the bare minimum. The chief factor owing to the lack of new stories in the mainstream films, in comparison to the online platforms, is the fear of the movies being a box office failure. While OTT platforms can afford to take a risk by exploring fresh ideas with a low budget and casting actors who aren't mainstream, it isn’t the same for commercial films which depend solely upon doing well at the box office market. Such commercial movies with prominent actors and a huge budget are at a risk of failure, and hence have to adhere to ideas that apparently appeal to a larger audience rather than a niche group. However, the shift that can be observed in the perception of the industry by the Indian audience due to the influential streaming services, can be the saving grace that Bollywood has been yearning for. Although it will take time for the industry to completely break away from the existing clutches of conventional storytelling, there is scope for improvement.
01 Jul 2024
Anika K
