Falling stars, failing films (Column: B-Town)

People now just refuse to come to the cinemas. This changed attitude was demonstrated recently when few people turned up to watch either Akshay Kumar’s ‘Raksha Bandhan’ or Aamir Khan’s ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’. A week later, the same reluctance was evident for the comparatively smaller film, ‘Do Baaraa’.

‘Raksha Bandhan’ and ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ were both released in the same week to cash in on the extended holiday period starting with the festival of Raksha Bandhan on August 11, leading up to Independence Day, and ending with the Parsi New Year on August 16. When two high-profile films have been released in the same week at other times, often both have proved to be successful and there was no reason why these two should not have taken advantage of this long weekend and reap the benefit. Sadly, there were no takers for either!

When a film flops, there are various reasons to fall back on and till recently, it was the audience’s fear of coming to cinemas following the Covid-19 pandemic and the growth of OTT platforms during the lockdown. But, then, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ worked; so did ‘The Kashmir Files’, despite such deterrents. Both did excellent business.

Starting with ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ and ‘Raksha Bandhan’, we have a new excuse: Boycott! The fact is, none of the two films were boycotted by any religious or other such organisation. There was no boycott of any sort! There have been quite a few films against which a boycott call was made, such as ‘PK’ and ‘Dangal’. ‘PK’, in fact, ran under police protection initially and went on to become one of the biggest box-office grossers. These boycott calls don’t work.

This boycott thing is a game people on social media play. Most often, actors whose films are due for release either sponsor such and other gimmicks, or encourage them. They seem to think of it as a promotion!

Kareena Kapoor was known to have made comments on the social media provoking people to go ahead and ban her film (‘Laal Singh Chaddha’). There was no boycott and yet the film is a disaster. Now what? She must feel so stupid.

Have people stopped going to cinemas and watching films? It does not look like this is happening. If that were so, why are language films in Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Marathi and Gujarati seem to be working well. Of course, regional cinema has its own issues, but people have not forsaken it.

The problem with Punjabi films is oversupply. The finance probably comes from across the world, which keeps the industry ticking. If seven or eight films flop, they are followed by one big hit and that breathes new life into the industry.

The Bhojpuri industry had become huge, not only giving many hits, but also superstars with great fan followings (three of them are even Member of Parliament). But the region does not have a reputation for fair dealing. Here, producer invest money to make films, but the cinemas eat up the profits. Their greed has paralysed the Bhojpuri industry, but the good news is the birth of the Chhattisgarhi cinema. Few films are made there, but still, that is a beginning.

Marathi films have survived many ups and downs and were never subject to what happened to Hindi films. Marathi has its own culture, pool of talent and boasts of some of the best writing. If their scope has remained limited at the box office, it is only because Marathi cinema never gets fair play time and it does not have Bollywood’s buying power.

Then there is the resurrection of the Gujarati film industry. Once upon a time, it churned out regular musical hits, but the producers were mostly outsiders making the most of the tax exemption and subsidy policies of the state Government. Sadly, the content was mostly folk based and the quality of the films was pathetic, to say the least. The films catered to the lowest strata of society and never attracted a regular middle class or upper class audience.

The new-look Gujarati films now cater to the youth. They have plush production values and are worth watching. In fact, the latest release, ‘Fakt Mahilao Mate’ (Only For Ladies), is on its way to becoming a blockbuster.

Besides these regional films thriving, it must be disturbing for the Hindi stars that now the dubbed South Indian films are setting records in the Hindi belt!

There is this starlet, Tapsee Pannu, whose recent release, ‘Shabaash Mithu’, collected about Rs 2 crore and ‘Do Baaraa’, in the region of Rs 3 crore, at the box office. Her ‘Do Baaraa’ got no audiences, leading to cancellation of shows. She wants her film to be boycotted. That way she wants to be in the same league as Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar. She said she was feeling left out! Left out of what?

You have to be fully accepted first, which you are not, and the chances are bleak of that happening. You appeal to people to boycott you, but which people? There is nobody in the cinemas. Our film stars are never accused of having much intelligence, but that is no reason for them to display the lack of it.

Regional cinema is growing thanks to the failure of Hindi cinema to deliver what the audience wants. They don’t identify with what the Hindi makers are dishing out for the last few years.

There was also the issue of Ajay Devgn getting into a social media spat with the Kannada star Kichcha Sudeep on dubbing South films into Hindi. It was rather immature of him to raise this debate when some of Devgn’s own blockbusters are remakes of southern films! This is also true for many other Bollywood actors.

Many such issues make Hindi film stars look small in the eyes of their fans. They have lost their esteem and standing. They do things least expected from idols. I have mentioned at other times instances of when these stars fell short of what was expected of them, like the cases of Sushant Singh Rajput, KanganaRanaut, and so on.

How can a Kareena or a Tapsee be so arrogant as to tell people to boycott her film when it is not even her film? Others have invested in it. And what happens to the hundreds who worked behind the scene to make that film? As a star, you are the face of a film and entrusted with the tast of realising the aspirations of hundreds who work behind the scenes. Alas, you fail and vent your frustrations on the viewers who make you and your films succeed.

Somewhere down the line, the Hindi film industry has lost the plot. The stars are seen where they should not be seen (in silly ads) and they open their mouths at wrong times.They better learn that without a public following, there is no stardom.