"The future of Hindi cinema lies in betting on raw talent, bold storytelling, and directors who can take a script and direct the hell out of it. The past few years have proved: stars don’t necessarily bring audiences; conviction does. A new generation of actors, filmmakers, and writers is ready to change the game," wrote filmmaker Hansal Mehta, calling for a Bollywood reset in a recent social media post. His reflections have sparked a debate around what the Hindi film industry badly needs to sustain itself (forgetting thriving).
While there is a view that star power should be ignored and writing talent must be relied on, Bollywood has barely seen any success even when it invested in talented filmmakers. Recently, Dharma Productions allegedly made huge losses on Alia Bhatt's Jigra. Karan Johar purportedly invested Rs 85 Cr but the film didn't fetch much.
In a recent interaction with legendary screenwriter Javed Akhtar, superstar Aamir Khan commented that Bollywood has effectively forgotten its roots. "With OTT, we have killed our own business model. We are telling the audience that if they don't watch our movie, we have no problem and we will deliver the product at their doorsteps after 8 weeks. Previously, the audience went to theatres to watch movies. Today, theatres have become a fancy location. Even if you don't visit theatres, the product will be delivered to you through OTT," Aamir said, questioning the OTT model.
If Aamir Khan is anything to go by, Bollywood has shot itself in the foot by making its products available on OTT. But Bollywood is not the only industry doing it. How come it has been affected disproportionately? Perhaps, the answer is difficult to comprehend. Or, maybe, there is no one answer.
