So, what바카라s new?
In the supersized world of big-budget, big-star, big-everything mainstream Hindi moviedom, not much, by the looks of it. If you want new, look South. Filmmakers from the South seem to be doing some good stuff with their stars. This isn바카라t just an opinion. The numbers (gathered from Ormax Media) have spoken, even if they can be contested by other such sources.
From January to March 2025 (during which Holi and Eid-ul-Fitr were celebrated), the highest-grossing film in India was Chhaava, hitting Rs 691 crore till that point. It바카라s a Hindi film about Maratha pride, perhaps a bit historically dubious, but if it바카라s a good yarn, why let facts come in the way? That logic is not restricted only to movies these days. But after Chhaava, there are only two Hindi films (up to March) in the top ten: Sky Force (Rs 130 crore) and Sikandar (Rs 122 crore). Neither film appears to have been able to keep the momentum going and were anyway made on massive budgets, with Akshay Kumar headlining Sky Force and Salman Khan starring in Sikandar. Big enough grossers, then, but probably not massive hits in terms of return on investment.
The rest are all from southern India. Primarily Telugu. There바카라s Sankranthiki Vasthunam, Game Changer, Daaku Maharaaj and Thandel: all Telugu. L2: Empuraan, with or without the Censor Board바카라s scissors, is the lone Malayalam representative there. Tamil films score two spots: Dragon and Vidaamuyarchi.
In March, the festive month, when Salman Khan, the big Eid hero, released Sikandar, a film whose budget is rumoured to be in the Rs 200-crore region, L2: Empuraan, reportedly the most expensive Malayalam film ever made, was the bigger grosser at Rs 129 crore to Sikandar바카라s Rs 122 crore. Sikandar hasn바카라t picked up steam since. L2: Empuraan is the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever. Only one other Hindi film, Diplomat, figured in the top ten in March with Rs 46 crore. The rest바카라with the Gujarati All the Best, Pandya at Rs 14 crore, the outlier바카라were Telugu and Tamil. Chhaava had had its run.
To be fair to Sikandar, Eid was at the end of March. But as an April 7 report in Hindustan Times said, 바카라Sikandar is not Salman바카라s worst-faring film on Eid, but it is closer to the bottom than it is to the top [바카라] It has diminished to single-figure earnings at the box office now, returning just 8-9% occupancy over the weekdays.바카라
Those are the facts, but what do they tell us?
The mainstream Hindi film industry is currently바카라one might argue this has always been the case바카라trapped in a mess of its own making. Superstars who avoid risk; film-makers who, because of the box-office circumstances, look for stars to raise the budgets, sell their films, play the distribution game right. In short, promotion and marketing are key: Jo dikhta hai, woh bikta hai (What you see is what you buy). All with exceptions, of course. The marketers do their job all right, but 바카라good advertising kills a bad product faster바카라바카라as true an advertising maxim as there can be. Away from that quagmire, there바카라s the OTT world. Films become big when they draw viewers to the theatre to watch them. With the abundance of good content바카라Indian, non-Indian바카라a remote click away, that pull is indisputably weaker today. A film will stream on one of these platforms soon anyway.
There바카라s more to OTT. It provides space for smaller films, non-mega stars, non-big film-makers. And there seems to be an audience for it: people who might not spend money at a theatre for these non-glitzy films, but are more than happy to watch them at home.
So, as the ad gurus might ask: where is the next big idea?
Since 2014, the big idea seems to have been Hindu nationalism. Ghar mein ghus ke maarenge, and all that. Akshay Kumar, chiefly, and Vicky Kaushal have made a career out of it. They are not the only ones though. Some of these films work, some don바카라t. Chhaava is an example of a nationalistic film that worked, very well. As did Tanhaji-The Unsung Warrior (2020), another film about Maratha pride with possible factual inaccuracies. Obvious fact: a large percentage of the Hindi film viewership바카라in the 30 to 40 per cent region바카라historically comes from Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is a part.
Toilet-A Prem Katha was another film that did well. Ram Setu and Samrat Prithviraj, among many others, didn바카라t. That will continue to be the case, perhaps more an indication of what바카라s available and what the really big actors are starring in, rather than the audience바카라s movie of choice.
The distribution game plays a role, too. The big players have always been able to book more exhibition slots, and push out 바카라smaller바카라 films. Sidelining the smaller films isn바카라t necessarily the objective, but a by-product of the game. They ensure that their films are the only ones people can watch, which in turn gives them a fair shot at box-office success. That바카라s why you hear stories about makers of not-so-big films trying to avoid releasing their films when the major stars바카라 films are scheduled.
The other shiny new idea is not new at all: the great villain. Pakistan, specifically, and Muslims in general. Or an Indian businessman or politician or some such working against India바카라s interests. Maybe one day soon, China will be a regular in this role. But getting them to say 바카라Hindustan ki tabaahi바카라 (destruction of India) might take some doing.
The unfortunate thing is that this trend of films moving with the (political) times is not new. Starting from the cinema of Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, aligned to the Nehruvian Socialism of the era, to DevAnand바카라s pre-underworld big-city-underbelly noir, to Amitabh Bachchan바카라s angry-at-the-promise-of independence-gone- wrong formula, to the post-liberalisation, let바카라s-go-global DDLJ or KKHH, it was always a reflection of the times we lived in, films portraying the political zeitgeist. Today, it바카라s India on (hypernationalist) speed, and Pakistan is still vile, increasingly so, with recent events perhaps ensuring that this won바카라t change in a hurry. Even Shah Rukh Khan바카라s Pathaan and Jawan had people with anti-India designs playing the bad guys.
What we need, is a shake-up. It would be naive to think that producers will stop playing the distribution game or that stars will start taking risks바카라sure, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan have, and continue to do so, but even they have shown no signs that they would go anywhere as far as someone like, say, Malayalam superstar Mammootty, has of late. It has to be a shake-up that goes beyond the emergence of new platforms like OTT, which the IT Rules of 2021 have adequately tamed. What that is, is anybody바카라s guess.
Malayalam and Tamil cinema have reinvented themselves. So, movies that aren바카라t entirely formulaic have become mainstream hits, like Kumbalangi Nights, Minnal Murali and Manjummel Boys. Or seemingly formulaic movies are made to do a double shift, like Pa Ranjith바카라s Sarpatta Parambarai or Vetrimaaran바카라s Asuran. The biggest Telugu and Kannada films have done formula in ways 바카라Big Bollywood바카라 can only copy, or fail trying.
For the counterpoint, we must turn to Dinesh Vijan, arguably the most successful producer in the industry today. He takes on everything. He does Chhaava, he does Stree 2, he does Munjya; he works with big stars and with relative unknowns, and he seems to pull it off. So, when he says바카라바카라I don바카라t believe there바카라s a 바카라takeover바카라 by southern cinema. Since the pandemic, the Hindi film industry has seen remarkable successes바카라바카라in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, we must take him seriously. It바카라s certainly true of the work he has done. And he바카라s also on point when he says, 바카라What truly matters is giving audiences something fresh and unique바카라exactly what these films have delivered. Instead of viewing southern film and Hindi films as separate entities, we should embrace them as part of one Indian film industry.바카라 The key, as Vijan says, 바카라is to craft stories that resonate with a large, diverse audience바카라.
In the end, it must come down to good storytelling. Think Kantara. A non-star, non-Hindi blockbuster. Or a star vehicle like Fahadh Faasil바카라s Aavesham. Or Vijay Sethupathi바카라s Tamil blockbusters. Now there바카라s an actor that Hindi film-makers are making a beeline for even if he can just about speak the language.
The Hindi film industry isn바카라t dead, nor is it dying. But it could definitely do with some freshness. Safe must go. Or be dialled down. Stars don바카라t guarantee returns, even if they help clinch wider distribution, promotion and glitz. This may be stating the obvious, but what really works바카라and the OTT channels are proof of this바카라are good stories and good storytelling. Think Farzi, Paatal Lok, Family Man, Sacred Games, Jubilee바카라On the big screen, think Tumbaad after the film was re-released.
The biggest grossers aren바카라t necessarily the biggest successes, because they are made with massive budgets. What works for the mega stars, the Khans especially, is the wait. They have started to make their fans wait for the next releases바카라Pathaan and Jawan releasing soon after one another wasn바카라t ideal, and was an exception, but it worked. Again, the wait. Shah Rukh Khan had only done special appearances in films between Zero in 2018 and Pathaan in 2023. Jawan and Dunki came in 2023 too.
But wait. Later this year, we should get Housefull 5, Baaghi 4, De De Pyaar De 2, Jolly LLB 3 (where the makers have realised Akshay Kumar needs Arshad Warsi to make the good idea work), Love and War and Border 2 as well as Aamir Khan바카라s Sitaare Zameen Par, perhaps a risk-averse response to the debacle that was Laal Singh Chaddha. Shah Rukh Khan바카라s next film appears to be King, with Pathaan 2 somewhere on the horizon. And Salman Khan바카라s next films are reportedly Dabaang 4, Tiger vs Pathaan and Kick 2.
Looks quite safe, and dire, doesn바카라t it, this dependence on endless sequels and franchise films? So, what바카라s new? Not a lot, it would seem.
(Views expressed are personal)
Shamya Dasgupta Writes on sports & cinema. He has curated and edited the forthcoming Ritwik Ghatak-An Anthology of Essays
This article is part of Outlook바카라s 1 June 2025 issue, 'Gated Neighbourhood', which examines the state of diplomacy, media, and democracy in the wake of the ceasefire. It appeared in print as 'Begin Again.'
