Bollywood social dramas lose traction

livemint.com:

NEW DELHI : Hindi language comedies and dramas with relevant social messaging, which were a huge draw before the covid-19 outbreak, have lost steam at the box office post the pandemic. At that time, films such as Dangal, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Badhaai Ho had set the cash registers ringing. However, the genre has witnessed a spate of flops over the past few years.

Mirroring the trend in Hollywood, where big spectacles and superhero films had replaced dramas by the late 2000s, trade experts say there has been an overdose of such films, leaving no distinction between home screens and theatres. However, a few still see hope. Well-made films, such as 12th Fail, can still clock good numbers if made well, because the genre attracts family audiences.

“In recent times, we’ve mostly seen a slew of action films and comedies (releasing in theatres), trying to replicate what has already been successful at the box office. That said, if made at the right scale and laced with some kind of entertainment value, social dramas, too, can find an audience even if the number of titles made falls over time," film distributor and exhibitor Akshaye Rathi said. He pointed to the strong social messaging even in an action film such as Jawan besides small-scale movies such as Zara Hatke Zara Bachke and Satyaprem Ki Katha that stand out as attempts made to carry the genre forward in a year like 2023 when large-scale commercial entertainers such as Pathaan and Gadar 2 dominated the box office.

“People are tired (of the genre) now; OTT has saturated that market completely. Because you see the same kind of content in theatres and at home, it has lost its value. Audiences are looking for something novel and fresh," independent exhibitor Vishek Chauhan