There may still be negativity for the Hindi film industry mainly restricted to social media and then there is covid19, and on top there is the better performance of the South compared to Hindi films over the last three months which makes the national film industry look smaller than regional ones, but the bigger issue remains CONTENT. The better performance of the South especially Telugu and Kannada cinema is to do with lesser covid19 fear and restrictions but better content also has a hand. Hindi cinema is still stuck with content which is restricted to a limited audience despite having the biggest audience. The business of Mumbai Saga and Roohi was actually not too bad considering the conditions and looking at the content of the films which offered very little.
Now looking at the trailers recently the content is actually a few steps lower than Roohi and Mumbai Saga.. The exhibitors want films in theatres but in a way its good that stuff like Toofan, The Big Bull and Pagalait all went to OTT as their results would be very depressing in theatres be it covid or no covid. There was recent release Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar where you had a director clueless as to how to make a film and the audience would have seen this in the trailer itself so the disaster results were always going to be reflective of this. To put it kindly its trashy content and this this remains the biggest concern for Hindi cinema.
Hollywood is a threat and now there is a threat from Telugu cinema also as a Rajamouli film like RRR you expect to have some following due to Bahubali. KGF2 has brand value due to a huge satellite performance of the first film but a film with no brand like Pushpa seems outstanding also and has good chances with a dubbed Hindi version. There will be other Telugu films trying their luck also and generally the content looks stronger with their problem for Hindi markets being face value but sometimes the box office overcomes lack of face value in the longer run.
There was a threat from the South in the 80's to Hindi cinema but they never really upped the game and were happy making money with factory type of films rather than looking at a bigger picture and eventually it just faded in a few years due to the repetency of the same cinema. They were not interested in changing the presentation. This time it can be bigger as looking at it they have better directors and writers who know what cinema is and how to present it and unlike the 80's its not about quickies and fast money.
We also have much of an industry whose take on cinema is just messed up and just like these reviewers who like trash like Pagailat its sad that a lot of the industry also does so you have the the media and a section of the industry liking but viewers forget liking they just refuse to watch. This is a huge disconnect as the industry has to like what the audience likes to prosper. This problem has been there a long time in the industry as even way back in the 60's there would be people thinking that Guide (1965) or Teesri Kasam (1966) are good films but it would be 1 or 2 people out of 10. Now the scenario is that its possible 6 or 7 out of 10 people in the industry think a Pagalait or Thappad is good and no they are not blind but thats their thought process which is totally different to the the normal people
At a rate of 1 or 2 people out of 10 within the industry liking a certain type of cinema it cant go forward which was the case in the 60's but at 6 to 7 out of ten its a different story with many such films getting made which has led to a dwindling audience over the last 4-5 years. The younger lot in the industry be it writers, directors or actors have to understand what is cinema and fast as demand is always going to be there for Hindi language cinema but if we cant give the correct content then the supply line will be coming from elsewhere rather than our own industry. There can be a time when the biggest films are from Hollywood and South in our markets while we get the crumbs.
This scenario is more closer than it looks especially after the pandemic if we keep on making these slice of life films, social issue films (which dont even reach the audience where they are supposed to create awareness) and biopics while real cinema which is larger than life is hardly there. The older actors are sometimes attempting larger than life cinema but all these actors are over 50 and have to play characters far below their actual age. No doubt they are big stars so the initials are strong but age is going to tell on screen so that long term box office gets tougher as you age. Of course you can play your age but then the initial become a struggle. Even still when these big stars attempt today the rawness of a Karan Arjun(1995) or Ghaatak (1996) is missing. Its still more towards designer films. Hindi cinema still remains the biggest film industry in India and it is bigger than Hollywood in India also but whether it remains this way will depend what the young talent in the Hindi cinema does post covid19.
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