Page 13 - Seniorstoday October 2023 Issue

and unafraid of tackling serious issues of
Image courtesy: koimoi know what lay beyond Bollywood (as
South Indian cinema, on the other hand,
is not afraid to push the boundaries of
creativity and has been serving up stories
that are varied, eclectic, daring, and
innovative. Pushpa, Bahubali, RRR or
Kantara… all have been loved by audiences
pan-India. Every film stands out with its
own identity. Comparatively, the acting
also seems unforced and realistic, with the
music scores definitely more original and
soul stirring. While Bollywood caters only
to a Hindi speaking audience, Southern
films have a greater cultural diversity
focusing on regional audiences like
Drishyam (Malyalam), KGF (Kannada)
and RRR (Telegu). The locales they are
filmed in are also more regional bringing
in wider audience identification compared
to Bollywood that finds locations in far-
flung places, oftentimes totally irrelevant
to the storyline. Southern films also
address important social issues like
caste and women. Their films have also
been better in terms of technology and
visual effects. Experimenting with new
ideas, innovations, different locales and
different styles of narratives, they have a
great novelty value, unlike the same old
concepts being thrashed out in the North.
Why has Bollywood missed the bus?
There was a time when they were in the
forefront of art and alternative cinema,
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #52 | OCTOBER 2023
poverty, corruption, religious inclusion…
In the last decade they have got quagmired
in some conservative mediocrity while
audience preferences and awareness have
evolved. As long as movie-goers did not
far as Indian cinema was concerned), the
Bollywood formula worked. But, the rise
of OTT services has made a whole variety
of content available to consumers at the
mere tap of a smartphone screen. Today’s
moviegoer is exposed to ideas, narratives
and experiential storytelling, from across
the globe and they are no longer satisfied
by the substandard fare meted out by Hindi
film industry. Bollywood must recognise
there is a lot more content that it has to
compete with - be it YouTube, Instagram,
TikTok reels to reality TV shows, which its
Southern cousins have been able to adapt
to.
Bollywood has an urgent need to shake
itself out of this stupor, because its
stagnation has had a tangible financial
impact on cinema houses too. In fact, it
is Hollywood and a smattering of decent
Hindi hits like Jawaan, Pathan, Gubaar 2
and Rocky and Rani ki Prem Kahani that
has helped prop up the box-office. Since
last year, moviegoers have been flocking
to the cinemas to watch big ticket releases
like Top Gun, Mission Impossible, Indiana
Jones, Oppenheimer and even Barbie.
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