Be it the altered preferences of audiences or the exponential rise of OTT, more and more Hindi films are flopping as compared to their South-Indian counterparts. Is it a trend forthe future?We find

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The rough spell for Bollywood films at the box-office does not seem to end. There were only four Hindi films, Gangubai Kathiawadi,The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Brahmastra: Part One—Shiva, which made it to the hit-list in the past nine months, whereas several South-Indian and Hollywood films were able to pull much bigger crowds.

Post Brahmastra’s box-office success, Bollywood movies are biting the dust each Friday. Why the current trend? Experts share their opinions.

Collection gap

After the grand celebration of National Cinema Day, which witnessed as many as 6.5 million Indians walking to cinema theatres, it’s pretty clear that the audience hasn’t lost interest in movies. South-Indian films, KGF Chapter 2 (Rs 1198 crore) and RRR’s (Rs 1111 crore) worldwide collection was resounding.

The most recent, Homable Production’s Kantara and Mani Ratnam’s PS1 was a hit amid Hindi speaking audience. While PS1’s worldwide collection crosses Rs 450 crore mark, the Hindi dubbed version alone clocked over Rs 21 crore.

Kantara, which released in Hindi only after the successful run in its original Kannada language, Rs 15 crore mark (only in Hindi language). In other words, Kantara, which released last Friday had more takers on a Monday than its release day, thanks to the word of mouth.

On the same day Doctor G was released, which is expected to be flop after a slow Monday whereas Code Name: Tiranga is struggling to even get the shows! The gap between film budget and its collection is rising as 2022 is nearing its end. Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan-starrer Vikram Vedha, remake of 2015 South film by the same name, also fell short by just Rs 48 crore (175 crore budget minus 127 crore lifetime collection) to recover the film’s budget. Notably, no film is being released this Friday ahead of Diwali on Monday.

Film critic Taran Adarsh shares, “The year has surely been rough for the industry, but in no way it should lead to a misconception that people are losing interest in cinema.”

Talking trends

For every Bollywood hit, the numbers of flops have risen from March (2-4 flops) to May (13-14 flops). After Brahmastra broke the jinx in September, there have been seven flops.

Scriptwriter Sanjay Chauhan opines, “Blockbusters come from the masses. Unless the directors make films that connect with the audience and say their story, we cannot produce a super-hit.”

Writer-director Mushtaq Pasha believes imported content in Hindi cinema only generates confusion, “It’s true that the audience is watching content from across the world. But you cannot serve sarson da saag and makki di roti to a South-Indian every day. In the same way, Bollywood, which caters to mainly the Hindi belt and the North, should not be serving idli sambhar when it’s made best down South.”

It also explains how mass appeal of Arjun Reddy star Vijay Devarakonda couldn’t be converted into pan-Indian movement after his Hindi film debut with Liger, which was a flop. The same goes for Dulquer Salman who succeeded with Telugu film Sita Ramam and its dubbed versions, but his Hindi film Chup: Revenge of the Artist couldn’t leave a lasting impression.

Actor-producer Mukesh Rishi calls it a challenging phase for the film industry: “From any challenge that we face, we come out stronger. From family stories to action hero trend to shooting in foreign locations, Hindi cinema has gone through many changes with respect to what transpired in the lives of people. Today OTT has posed a challenge, which can’t be ignored,” he adds.