Anupam Kher opened up on Bollywood’s failure at the box office while interacting with Chetan Bhagat and Kantara star Rishab Shetty in a session titled End of Bollywood Monopoly.
The dark times of Bollywood
2022 didn’t turn out to be an exciting year for Bollywood as several big-ticket films including Samrat Prithviraj, Dhaakad, Shamshera, Liger, Bachchhan Paandey, Ram Setu tanked at the box office. Only a few Hindi movies like Gangubai Kathiawadi, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, The Kashmir Files, Brahmastra, and Drishyam 2 did well at the ticket window. What’s the reason behind the same? Anupam Kher, while interacting with Chetan Bhagat and Kantara star Rishab Shetty at Times Now Summit 2022, shared his thoughts on the Hindi film industry’s failing at the box office.
We have just accepted that we will call ourselves Bollywood, this is our weakness. This is Indian film cinema: @AnupamPKher over the use of word 'wood'.@GEIndia @Herbalifeindia | @chetan_bhagat pic.twitter.com/UIHFP9T9Yt
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 25, 2022
Anupam Kher first cited the example of Rishab Shetty’s Kantara, stating the film resonated well with the Hindi audience. “His film started with Rs 50 lakhs and has now reached Rs 83 crores in the Hindi-speaking belt and that is the biggest achievement for cinema in India,” he said.
Regional contents
During the conversation, Anupam Kher said how, during the Covid-19 pandemic, people self-isolated and were exposed to OTT contents. It is during this time they discovered the beauty of regional content, adding, “Audience had an allergic reaction to fakeness in cinema.”
The Kashmir Files actor mentioned that people wanted Indian-rooted content that is from the heart and for the heart. “The audience does not want cliche content, whether it is in Hindi or any other language,” he added.
Based on cinema, who is more updated? I think the audience. Whereas, we filmmakers or writers are not updated as compared to them: Rishabh Shetty (Actor) in conversation with @chetan_bhagat@AnupamPKher also joins the discussion.@GEIndia @Herbalifeindia pic.twitter.com/FZRiEipb4q
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 25, 2022
Later concluding his answer Anupam said that he believes the dark days of Bollywiid will be beneficial for the industry and it will bounce back. He called the dry spell a period of ‘Amrit Manthan’, adding that a turning point will come soon.
