From the popcorn in our fists while you hear someone whistling in the background to the entry of the ‘Hero’ to empty theatres and a series of flops, big production houses that were once known for its legacy and grandeur today vulnerable to produce just one new film, today the Hindi-Film industry is going through a staggering dwindling and unstable period that it itself is not able to come out of.
The idea of relatability through repetitive and misrepresented plotlines looks like in the recent movie ‘Naadaniyaan’ starring the debut actor Ibrahim Ali khan which raised a lot of Gen-Z uproar over its failure to connect with the audience through elitist and misunderstood themes of the current generation, this essentially is overshadowing the idea of originality and freshness brought through new talents and scripts.
The issue of Nepotism is symmetric in all industries, but original scripts, creative ideas, realistic representation and a connect with the audience is something the Hindi-Film industry is not able to bridge the gaps of. Despite recovery of other industries from the economic wrath of COVID-19, for the Hindi film industry, this recovery has been substantially low.
It also connects with the idea of stardom, one that is an age-old fairytale. Today one movie can make or break the actors in the Hindi-speaking Film Industry. The security of these artists and the industry as a whole has become very vulnerable, especially after the tanking of box-office hits and the rise of OTT in the background of COVID-19 which just further exasperated the loopholes the industry was already facing.
CINEMA THAT TRANSCENDS LANGUAGES
Today, regional cinema acts as a powerful tool changing the landscape of Indian entertainment industry. Its strong storytelling, message delivery, audience capturing, casting choices and representation of social issues acts as a strong barrier to the Hindi-film Industry. But what marked the change in present times, especially when regional cinemas did exist in their own spheres in post-independence period.
Firstly, the idea of accessibility and affordability for film-making and production through technological advancements, this acted as a boon to independent and regional cinemas to go ahead, experiment and create low budget blockbusters like ‘2018’ and ‘Kantara’. This in parallel to very high-budget Bollywood A-star films with repetitive action and romance plotlines and poor message delivery acts as a stable and secure choice with greater return of investment.
Secondly, on the idea of authenticity, Marathi film industry insiders believe the freedom to tell real stories which connects to the linguistic diaspora with a scope of experimentation caters well for multiple regional language industries. This despite being regional has a wider influence on a national and global level as seen with movies like ‘All We Imagine As Light’, ‘Baahubali’ and ‘Super Deluxe’. Their striking visual aesthetics, bold and intuitive storyline, and being a masterpiece in acting proves it to get traction and attention on a wider level compared to it being restricted to local spheres.
But thirdly and a transformative change on the level of prominence of OTT platforms that has made it far easier for an individual to navigate the cinema they like not bound by regional accessibility or individual’s language barrier. Platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime pushing the success of movies like ‘Vikram Vedha’ or ‘Maharaja’ shows the diminishing prominence of box-office in the present times.
There remains one reason above all why regional films like Sairat, Kantara, Pushpa or RRR go on to become one of the most successful films to have carried the baton of their regional industry to global forum, it is essentially two-fold. Firstly, the Authenticity that it provides to the viewer who comes from the similar background of social and cultural realities and therefore is able to connect with the story more but also on the idea experimentation, no restriction from the audience to create a story or a script which is acceptable of a pan-level. The love for cinema drives these artists to create stories having a meaning and hence such a message delivery gains importance. It is exactly why the Hindi remakes of the same scripts or films do not have that much popularity as the original one.
We need to also understand that while recovery of the Hindi Film Industry from this economic and creative stagnation is very important, as a collective Indian film industry, the shift of viewership to regional cinemas only shows that the audience now has shifted their focus from conventional plotlines and scripts to creative and thought-provoking themes and messages. Regionalism hence becomes very important medium as it promotes culture-sharing and original ideas and therefore if films like these represent the country at the global level, not only do they become representation of our culture and nation but they also break a lot of stereotypes of inherently how the West views Indian content which is shaped by Indian realities.
Regional cinema therefore is re-defining today the inclusivity, creativity and originality of the Indian Entertainment Industry. These industries provide a platform for diverse storytelling.
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