From Laal Singh Chaddha To Shamshera: Big Budget, Massive Fail, A Sad Box Office Story

Hindi Cinema has been through its fair share of ups & downs for over a century. Fridays used to be a harbinger of brand-new stories, however, since the year 2020, Bollywood is on a rollercoaster ride.

From Laal Singh Chaddha To Shamshera: Big Budget, Massive Fail, A Sad Box Office Story ( Image Source :Twitter )

New Delhi: Hindi Cinema has been through its fair share of ups and downs for over a century. Fridays used to be a harbinger of brand-new stories, however, since the year 2020, Bollywood is on a rollercoaster ride. With theater viewing restricted during the pandemic and OTT platforms taking over as the center stage of entertainment, the theaters which echoed with lauds, are now going through a mostly dry spell.  

Hindi cinema is churning flops after flops. Is it because of the hollow storylines of the movie? Or repetitive casting? Why are even decent films not performing at the box office? The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiya 2, Gangubai Kathiawadi, and Brahmastra are the only films that have done well at the box office.

Let’s deep dive to find out why the Hindi film industry is struggling to grab the audience.

The OTT Era 
The entertainment industry came to a huge halt during Covid19 pandemic. The theaters were shut & television aired old & classic shows. This led to a refreshed interest in the OTT space. Any movie, whether big or small, gets featured on numerous OTT platforms soon after its release. Audiences can now watch multiple new movies, series, and original content at one-tenth the price or sometimes actually for free. This economic benefit has resulted in a significant decline in theater footfall.  

In fact, with no dearth of content on these OTT platforms, the audience is expecting better screenplay from Bollywood.   

South Movies OP 
South Indian Cinema is making history by delivering blockbusters. Movies such as 'Pushpa', 'RRR', 'KGF', and the latest 'Seeta-Ramam' have received excellent reviews for their stellar screenplay, performances, direction & most of all, casting. Huge Hindi film stars are also keen on signing movies with south actors. This gradual shift from Bollywood to south Indian cinema is one of the major reasons behind these box-office failures. People are flocking to theatres to watch south Indian films and deserting even major Hindi films like ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’. 

In the ongoing July-September quarter revenues from Bollywood films are expected to fall 45%, compared with pre-Covid levels, according to Elara Capital (Capital market firms). 

Lack Of Theatrical Experience 
The priority of the audience has shifted from the silver screen to OTT since the pandemic. The only time people are willing to spend on movie tickets is when it’ll provide a true cinematic experience. Bollywood movies, which have decent content but offer little advantage for a large-screen experience, are underperforming at the box office. The VFX prodigy, Brahmastra, has entered the 300 crore club despite being criticized for a bland screenplay & overly narrative dialogues.  

The audience is only interested in setting foot inside the halls for an unforgettable theatrical experience.  

Movie Name	Budget (in cr)	Collection (in cr)	Status
Brahmastra	400+	387.32	Success
Dhoka	20	2.65	Flop
Liger	110	71.74	Flop
Laal Singh Chaddha	63.96	180	Flop
Raksha Bandhan	115	47.37	Flop
Dobaara	30	4.03	Flop
Sita Ramam	30	97.38	Hit
Shamshera	150	46.4	Flop
Bhool Bhulaiya 2	75	185.57	Hit
Kashmir Files	14	251.75	All time blockbuster
RRR (All Languages)	600	1151	All time blockbuster
Dhaakad	85	2.94	Flop

*South films are the ones that collected both positive reviews & high revenues this year.

It is needless to say that 2020-2022 has been a black period in the history of Indian cinema. If this retrenching continues, then the entire film fraternity will have to bear a terrible loss of money and brand equity. One thing is evident a solid screenplay, the right casting, and original content is what the audience is craving today. Hindi cinema needs to get hold of this to get the footfalls back.