What lies ahead for Bollywood? “We should stop making films for Bandra to Versova audience,” say experts

Trade experts speak on what Bollywood needs in order to achieve favourable results at the box office

By Keyur Seta -

December 15, 2022 - 10:00 AM IST

Last week, Bollywood Hungama tried understanding what is going wrong with Ayushmann Khurrana’s movies by having a detailed conversation with trade experts. For those not in the know, the actor has given four unsuccessful films in a row in a span of a year in the form of – Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Anek, Doctor G and, the recent one, An Action Hero. This is in stark contrast to his fate before the COVID-19 pandemic, when he was one of the most bankable stars. We now look at what lies ahead for Ayushmann and what all he needs to do in order to go back to his winning ways at the box office.

What lies ahead for Bollywood? “We should stop making films for Bandra to Versova audience,” say experts

Veteran trade analyst Taran Adarsh believes that not just Ayushmann but Bollywood at large should go desi, considering the year we have had. “You need to make movies which are rooted in Indian culture,” he said. This goes for everyone. Why do we talk of RRR, Kantara and KGF? Because these films are rooted in our culture. They had the desi entertainment factor.”

He elaborated, “I am not talking in particular about Ayushmann Khurrana. I feel we are making films targeting the Bandra to Versova audience and losing out on a chunk of the audience. There has to be a desi feel to it and it has to begin with the trailer itself.”

Veteran trade analyst Atul Mohan echoes a similar sentiment. “He (Ayushmann) is very talented, no doubt,” he said. “He has a good loyal fanbase that loves him. Earlier, the media and the audience started saying that he is the Amol Palekar of this generation. This is a compliment. He shouldn’t do too much of experiments. He should do the kind of films people want him to do. He should do what they enjoy him doing, rather than being overambitious and over-experimental. His next few films should be the ones that would entertain the public.”

But trade expert Amod Mehra believes that Ayushmann should consider doing a mix and match of genres. “I am sure if he gets a good commercial director, he will do well,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that he only has to do commercial cinema. When you are making such choices, the risk is surely high. But at least one can say that he takes the chances. That is commendable, whereas most of the actors want to be in their comfort zone only.”

The experts, however, are unanimous in predicting that Ayushmann will surely bounce back. “Basically, any good actor won’t sit at home,” said Mehra. “He is such a good actor and he is very lovable. He never troubles his directors or makers. That quality will always go along with him.”

Adarsh added, “Yes, I am very confident (that he will bounce back). This is a phase that every actor goes through. Even Amitabh Bachchan went through this phase. The biggest of the superstars go through it; be it Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan. One hit and you are there.”

Atul Mohan is of the view that the string of unsuccessful movies won’t harm Ayushmann’s career. “When an actor reaches a certain league, he doesn’t get affected by 3-4 flops,” he said. “They just need one hit and they are back in the game. For example, Akshay Kumar has bounced back in the past after having a series of flops; it has happened twice with him.”

The experts believe that it works in Ayushmann’s favour that his next film is Dream Girl 2, which is slated to release on July 7, 2023. The first part was an out-and-out commercial entertainer with lots of humour and a desi feel. The announcement video of Dream Girl 2, which came out some time back, indicated that one can expect the same from the sequel too.

“Dream Girl, of course, has a tremendous recall value. At the same time, it’s very desi. I hope they retain that flavour (in the second part),” said Adarsh.

Mehra’s faith on this film is even more. “I am very confident that it will do well,” he said.

Also Read: An Action Hero director Anirudh Iyer on the film’s failure, “Don’t know what went wrong, I am unable to understand”