In many ways, 2024 proved to be a horror show for Bollywood. While audiences paid big time to get scared in theatres, the overall business surprised stakeholders. Throughout the year, exhibitors have complained about the choppy flow of films, prompting producers and distributors to serve up nostalgia to audiences looking for pleasant memories after the pandemic.
According to industry insiders, business declined by 20% to 30% last year, compared to a stellar 2023.
Failing to usher in the renaissance that the medium had promised, OTT platforms are also going through a phase of course correction through mergers, flab-cutting measures and self-censorship, leaving filmmakers in creative limbo. Have been left in. And audiences, unwilling to make choices on their mobile gadgets, are looking for more agency than twiddling their thumbs.
Hollywood is tired of superheroes but Bollywood audiences embrace heroism emerging from the South. One of the enduring images of 2024 was of youngsters climbing specially built structures at Gandhi Maidan in Patna to catch a glimpse of Pushp Raj (Allu Arjun). Ironically, it is the Hindi dub of the sequel of a Telugu blockbuster that saved Bollywood from embarrassment.
From rom-com to hor-com
In 2024, horror stories ruled the hearts of the audience and made horror mainstream in Bollywood. Four of the top ten money earners offered a heady mix of chills and thrills along with lots of laughs. At a time when the politics of hurt sentiments reign supreme, the genre has emerged as a powerful tool of subversion in the hands of imaginative filmmakers like Amar Kaushik and Anees Bazmee.
If woman 2 The female hero’s braid was shown to have the power to destroy patriarchy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa-3 Commented that hunger is the biggest ghost and conveyed the message of respecting sexual diversity in a horror comedy. the devil And Munjya Packed anything to read amidst the mumbo jumbo. The audience also liked the re-telecast of Soham Shah. tumbad, Where human greed takes the form of a ghost, This trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down as Ayushmann Khurrana will take the form of a vampire in 2025. held And Soham has promised to recreate Ramsay’s cult films.
agent stimulating
A section of Bollywood keeps offering the muscle-bound policeman as the solution to all our problems. Always seen as a safe bet in times of agitated troll mobs, the violent state agent, who does not follow SOPs, is presented as someone who will provide some agency to the common man. Rohit Shetty’s singham again This formula was promoted with box office success and its variations Warrior And Article 370 Scored well also. Bollywood is weaponizing history to fight today’s political battles, revenge and retribution will remain a trend in 2025 sky force And The canopy.
large size products
In 2024, it becomes clear that Bollywood’s math is getting it wrong as it invests a disproportionate share of film budgets in the salaries of stars and their co-stars. Seen as a massive case of self-targeting, films that earn Rs 100 crore at the box office are still considered flops because it costs Rs 200 to Rs 300 crore to set up the tentpole. Defeat of Ali Abbas Zafar big mian small mian Shows the dangers of putting unstable, oversized products on the market.
writing on the wall
tremendous response from Jigra and exile This underlines that credible performance cannot save a showy script. But instead of investing in storytelling, the Bollywood bigwigs decided to keep their work under wraps ahead of Friday by skipping press shows. Low-brow humor packed with panache is still a safe bet crew and attractive Touba Touba The tune drew everyone’s attention to something hollow Bad news.
On the contrary, riding on inspired writing, right-sized films are preferred missing ladies, Amar Singh Chamkila, The Buckingham Murders, I Want to Talk, And Strike foundTheir way into hearts and history. Satire, musical biopic, social thriller, drama and action, the films belonged to different genres, but each touched a raw nerve with its intention and execution of a socially relevant subject.
Amar Singh shined. (Left to Right) Diljit Dosanjh as Amar Singh Chamkila, Parineeti Chopra as Amarjot Kaur in Amar Singh Chamkila. Ten million. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024 | Photo Credit: Mubeen Siddiqui/Netflix
vocal for local
With the catchment area of ​​South Indian blockbuster films expanding deeper into North Indian regions, it has sparked debate that language and lifestyle are no longer a limit for a film to transcend the Vindhya region. Is it the Hindi film audience or, as exhibitors and distributors complain, Bollywood filmmakers, in an attempt to go global, force audiences to look south for a culturally rooted experience? The love for the original has diminished the remake business. Whereas Sirfira And baby john tanked, Pushpa And brother-in-law Became a household name.
call for support
As formulas are failing and streaming platforms ask for box office reports before purchasing a film, stars want to collaborate with successful filmmakers from the South. This bet failed in 2024 baby john Faltering in ups and downs, but 2025 will see Salman Khan joining hands with AR Murugadoss for his traditional Eid release Alexander And Shahid Kapoor is collaborating with Roshan Andrews Deva,
beyond the obvious
In offbeat space, Fairy Folk, Girls Will Be Girls, Dispatch And berlin Left a deep impression, but also raised questions about young filmmakers promoting foreign perspectives in an effort to deflect attention from censorship or making films a little too obscure for general audiences. Sandhya Suri’s trends to be re-examined this January Satisfaction Issuances.
The growing trend of re-releasing old films led to the realization of what the audience was missing in theatres. Sajid Ali’s unprecedented success Laila Majnu It was revealed that romance is still in demand and when Imtiaz Ali rockstar and Yash Chopra’s Veer Zara The successful comeback in multiplexes also indicated that the audience was missing the purity and poetry in their love stories.
support for politics
In an election year, theaters were filled with propaganda films and biopics of stalwarts of the right-wing ecosystem. Whereas I am firm on Article 370, Swatantra Veer Savarkar, And sabarmati report While those who were okay with provocative writing and forceful demonstrations, many others who were involved in the election of the party in power and the blatant dissemination of the ideological manifesto were eliminated. Kangana Ranaut’s emergency Ironically, it has found itself the target of politics of hurting sentiments and will probably be released in 2025 and Vivek Agnihotri will also be releasing. Delhi files.
published – January 01, 2025 05:21 PM IST
