Not a good year

The year 2024 has been disappointing for Hindi films from Bollywood, the factory of Hindi movies from Mumbai. No Hindi film has been a superhit or earned record profits. The industry is truly worried.

The reasons for Bollywood’s gloomy year are very clear. First, there have been no well-written scripts, reflecting the national mood, which could be converted to good films. In the 1970s and 1980 script writers like Salim-Javed assessed the issues of people and wrote blockbuster scripts. Thus, was born the angry young man, in the persona of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan.

Unfortunately lately, many movies just focus on music and dance. They ignore the storyline. Most movies are murder mysteries or revolve around crime and revenge.

Secondly, Bollywood movies are too celebrity-hero centred. Some of the top heroes charge around Rs100 crore, i.e. USD 12 million, per movie. The costs of making a movie spiral. The producers cannot recover the expenses. Many top heroes

focus on building an army of followers on the social media, rather than polishing their acting skills.

In the West even actors like Marlon Brando had to audition for the role of the Godfather. An actor like Al Pacino reveals in his October 2024 released autobiography, “Sonny Boy,” that he trained, even after becoming a global star, post the Godfather trilogy.

I have yet to read about an Indian movie star undertaking refresher acting classes. Once an actor becomes a star, he survives through repetition and mannerisms.

Bollywood movies will perform better, if they focus on relevant scripts which reflect the problems and angst of the common man. Audiences have matured. They do not seek escapist fare, but entertainment with some realism.

Rajendra Aneja, Mumbai, India