There was a time when Khans and Kapoors used to overshadow new talents and rule Bollywood. A movie without a good script, mediocre acting skills and poor direction could easily enter 100 crore club and were declared a superhit. Till 2017, trash like the Golmaal series and Wanted would become massive hits, while many classics would tank at the box office. This is how people were denied a golden chance to witness a new era of entertainment.
From 83 to Bachchan Pandey, a constant show of flop movies
Remember the Ranveer Singh starrer 83 which was supposed to be a breath of fresh air? The only barometer for a neutral eye is the box office numbers, and to be perfectly honest, the numbers depicted in that movie has been neglected by the audience.
83 was an out-and-out tragedy from the financial lens. Reportedly, the movie, which was made at an estimated cost of Rs 270 crores, had to lose over 150 crores at the box office, despite running at the theatres for two weeks.
Read more: Five reasons why Ranveer Singh’s 83 is a shocking box-office disaster with a loss of Rs 150 crore
The reason, however, was the agenda depicted in the movie and strong competition in the name of Pushpa.
Moreover, Gangubai Kathiawadi, despite a stupendous portrayal of a prostitute by Alia Bhatt, a strong script, and extraordinary direction of Sanjay Leela Bhansali could not manage to create records. However, it earned a decent amount and thus, has been declared an average hit.
Talking about ‘Khiladi Kumar’ of Bollywood, his recently released ‘Bachchan Pandey’ has been hit badly by the storm of ‘The Kashmir Files’. While the box office collection on the first day of its release stood at 13.25 crore, it could only manage to collect a total of 12 crores on the second day.
Movie critic Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to compare the box office collection of Akshay Kumar starrer Bachchan Pandey and ‘The Kashmir Files’. He tweeted, “#BachchhanPaandey gets hit by the unprecedented #TKF wave across the country… Mass circuits are steady, but plexes remain low on Day 2… Needs to improve its performance on Day 3… Fri 13.25 cr, Sat 12 cr. Total: ₹ 25.25 cr. #India biz.”
#BachchhanPaandey gets hit by the unprecedented #TKF wave across the country… Mass circuits are steady, but plexes remain low on Day 2… Needs to improve its performance on Day 3… Fri 13.25 cr, Sat 12 cr. Total: ₹ 25.25 cr. #India biz. pic.twitter.com/bnStlDFKg6
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 20, 2022
‘The Kashmir Files’: a Bollywood India needed for too long
Film critic, Taran Adarsh, tweeted about the grand success of ‘The Kashmir Files’ and tweeted, “I was witness to the unparalleled hysteria of #JaiSantoshiMaa in 1975… It faced a mighty opponent in #Sholay, yet rewrote HISTORY then. It’s happened the second time, after 47 years… #TheKashmirFiles is also creating HISTORY… Demolishing records, setting NEW BENCHMARKS.”
I was witness to the unparalleled hysteria of #JaiSantoshiMaa in 1975… It faced a mighty opponent in #Sholay, yet rewrote HISTORY then.
It's happened the second time, after 47 years… #TheKashmirFiles is also creating HISTORY… Demolishing records, setting NEW BENCHMARKS. pic.twitter.com/yfabnNLyI4— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) March 19, 2022
The support from the common nationalist people for this movie has brought the movie to the list of one of the biggest hits in Indian cinema. One by one, every box office record is being broken by this movie.
The truth told in this movie has made these people very uncomfortable. This has unveiled the false curtain of the ‘freedom brigade.’ They always talk about violence and freedom when freedom was being raped in Kashmir by these Radical Islamist forces, they never spoke a word. Now crying that movie is promoting communalism. This shows the level of hypocrisy carried by these left-liberal-Islamic gangs.
The evolving Indian audience
Earlier, there was a myth that without a big star a movie cannot have a good business. But, recently successful movies, like KGF, Uri, Pushpa, and others, have proved that the Indian audience has turned more sensitive and will not tolerate any propaganda. It is the new India and for the audience of this India, ‘content is the king.’
The big stars movies like Antim – starring Salman Khan, Hasina Parker – Shradha Kapoor, Zero – Shahrukh Khan, Thugs of Hindustan – starring Amir Khan, Amitabh Bachan, Tubelight – starring Salman khan has been a disaster on box office collection. Despite the big-budget promotion, there was a total failure in business.
Read more: Content is King: The Kashmir Files proves it
Salman Khan’s ‘Tubelight’, set against the backdrop of the 1962 Indo China War, that also witnesses the return of Salman’s brother and a dud actor, Sohail Khan, fails to create any records and barely manages to recover its own costs, earning a total of only Rs. 159.19 crore as of now.
Has the audience changed? Yes. The success of Bahubali 2’s dubbed version along with ‘The Kashmir Files’ proves the same. The Indian audience has decided to encourage new talents rather than the product of nepotism. The Indian audience does not want to tolerate any propaganda in the name of entertainment. What it is looking forward to is true India and good scripts with great performances.