Why Post-Pandemic Bollywood Films are Struggling at the Box Office?

Fridays no longer feel the same. Moviegoers hardly care about Fridays because new Hindi releases rarely pique their interest. Long queues are a rare sight in movie theatres and there is no frantic rush for tickets. Filmmakers, actors and producers are now approaching the day with caution and trepidation.

Flop after flop is being produced in Hindi cinema. But why is it that an industry known for its ground-breaking content is struggling to engage its audience?

Three high-budget and highly anticipated films recently failed at the box office. Aamir Khan’s Lal Singh Chadha, Akshay Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan and Ranbir Kapoor’s Shamshera all failed to entice audiences.

According to Emkay Global Financial Services, only two films this year have received positive reviews: The Kashmir Files and Bhool Bhulaiya 2. The rest of the films received either mixed or negative reviews from critics. According to Reuters, producers were “re-calibrating everything” for new projects in the works including budgets, scripts and casting.

In a recent interview with film critic Baradwaj Rangan, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap stated that in today’s world, Hindi cinema cannot rely solely on ‘STAR’ value. The content being distributed is not engaging enough. It has to be rooted and unique, according to the creators of Gangs of Wassepur and Dev D.

Analysts and experts agree. A report by Emkay Global Financial Services says that poor content performance is largely underscored by deprecatory critics-reviews and social media influences. Content quality has superseded star power which is evident in the recently released movies being a big let-down.

Karan Taurani, Senior Vice-President, Elara Capital says content for Hindi cinema has not been up to the mark. The backlog of content has not worked. Audience consumption habits have changed and they want to watch differentiated content. Strong growth versus pre-Covid levels will only comeback in second half of next year.

Poor content is reflected in the box office numbers. According to a Koimoi website, 77% of Bollywood releases have been flops this year. In the January-July period this year, overall gross box office collections stood at over Rs 6,000 crore. Of this, Hindi cinema’s share was just 34%, which is lower than the pre-pandemic levels – according to Ormaxe media, a media consulting firm.

Interestingly, the Hindi box office was also largely driven by dubbed regional films like RRR and KGF-2. According to Elara Capital, in the ongoing July-September quarter revenues from Bollywood films are expected to fall 45%, compared to the pre-Covid levels.

Meanwhile, Southern cinema had a riot at the box office this year. RRR and KGF 2 minted close to or over Rs 1,000 crore, while Vikram delivered massive numbers for Tamil cinema.

Southern cinema’s share in overall box office collections stood at over 50% till July this year.

The rise of OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime have opened up content that was once inaccessible to the loyal Bollywood audience and streaming with subtitles proved a game changer for regional cinema. Tollywood’s ‘Pushpa – The Rise’ became a bigger success and garnered a cult-like status in north India after it was released on Amazon Prime. Experts say, with no dearth of content on OTTs, audiences are demanding better storytelling from Bollywood. High-ticket prices in multiplexes, the reduction of single screens and social media campaigns against the film industry do not help either.

So, is everything gloomy for Bollywood? Not so much. It’s not that every regional cinema is doing well. Recent Liger fiasco shows that only gripping storytelling works irrespective of where it is produced. A few good successes at the box office could turn the tide.

Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Joint Managing Director, PVR, says this phenomenon is not new. It is just an aberration and not a trend. For films, that haven’t done well, the content has not resonated with consumers. It is just a matter of two to three movies doing well. One good hit can change the fortunes of the industry to change.

But it also depends on how the filmmakers adapt to the changing tastes of audiences. Currently, the industry is playing catch-up and trying too many things. Experts say audiences will wake up to Bollywood if the industry engages them.

In a recent interview, Amir Khan said Bollywood has stopped making movies for the masses and the content is too niche. That could be the restart maybe: Picking subjects that appeal to a larger audience that make for compelling viewing.