Bollywood’s Box Office Blues: Why Hits Are Hard To Come By

Following a lacklustre first quarter at box office, big questions on future of Bollywood and declining impact of stardom are staring us in eye. When massive, star-studded releases like Be Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan, with a sure-shot success formula - popular genre, festive release and over--top promotion, failed to pull audiences to atres, it raised question of why hits in Bollywood have been hard to come by in recent times.

Hindi film industry, based out of Mumbai, recorded best year ever in 2023 with Pathaan, Jawan, Gar 2 and Animal driving a business of over ₹11,000 crore domestically. However, success now seems like a one-off incident. With ‘pan-India’ films breaking one box office record after anor, fans of Bollywood are finding it hard to vocate for industry that continues to grapple with big-budget projects falling flat. To d to this discussions around lack of original content, over--top promotion of average films and declining stardom have plagued industry. Why is re a dearth of hits in recent past? Why are Hindi movies failing to find an audience post-pandemic? Experts answer.

Why are big stars not able to pull audiences to atres?

Salman Khan starrer Tiger 3 (2023) minted 282.79 crores at domestic box office. To put this in perspective, previous instalment of YRF-backed franchise - Tiger Zinda Hai raked in ₹339.16 crore. This year’s first big release - Hrithik Roshan-Deepika Pukone’s Fighter minted ₹ 212.73 Cr at box office. Akshay Kumar-Tiger Shroff’s action flick Be Miyan Chote Miyan struggled to pass even ₹100 crore mark with only ₹ 65.33 Cr in domestic collection. Ajay Devgn’s sports drama Maidaan finished at an even less impressive ₹51.4 crore. se are same stars and studios that were earlier responsible for delivering biggest hits of year, not just in Hindi but across languages. back-to-back disappointment by ‘star-led’ projects has raised question of wher stardom as a factor is not impactful anymore.

In a recent interview with Bollywood Thikana, veteran actor Prem Chopra provided a contrast between careers of Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan. Both were superstars of ir time who reigned supreme at box office and audience’s hearts, but only one was able to sustain status. Giving due credit to Amitabh Bachchan, Chopra said “Amitabh was different. He was a superstar for so many years, but he moved on to character roles at right time. I am sometimes surprised, at this age, he is busier than he was before.” Maybe this pivot from doing same old formulated roles to character-driven performance is what superstars of today need.

In an exclusive conversation with Republic World, tre entertainment industry tracker Ramesh Bala blamed ‘too much access’ as a reason for perceived declining stardom. “ audience is not compelled to go to atres to watch actors. y can see m in brand endorsements, on Instagram or on tours,” said analyst. Drawing a parallel from South Indian stars, Bala said, “South stars don’t make mselves available. y don't take part in dance tours, or store openings. So, if audience has to watch Ajith, y will have to go to atres.” This, he asserted, drives a big opening to a film which eventually translates to a better box office collection. 

Do stars need to take a pay cut?

A film’s hit or flop is invertently dependent on its budget. While a ₹100 crore collection would be staggering for 12th Fail, it would not even cover salary of one actor in Fighter. This shifts focus on film’s budget. Big banner projects invest more in movies, thus y need to make more money to break even and even more to be deemed as a hit at box office. Star’s salary, as well as, ir ancillary costs such as remuneration of ir team, ds to producer’s pocket, increasing film budget multifold. Lately, actor-turned-producer Kriti Sanon, filmmaker Farah Khan, and actor Manoj Bajpayee have spoken about same.

Ramesh Bala tells us, “Over period of time, star salaries are going up.” He argued that first actors would fix ir fees with anticipation of how much film could make at box office, but now y even calculate streaming rights of movie on OTT and d it to ir salaries. His solution to problem is profit sharing. He asserted that profit sharing is a common norm in Hollywood because “studios control actors” in West but “actors control producers” in India. He also attributed ‘star-worship’ as a reason for producers to bow down to all reasonable and unreasonable demands me by actors. Bala cited example of or corporate industries where an employee would never be in a position to ask for a “100% hike in salary”, but a star can easily ask for double ir remuneration from last movie. A profit-sharing model would not just put less stress on producer but will compel actors to invest ir all in film.

Not stars, content is king

For years now, industries have stated that y pick and choose movies y star in on basis of content. y argue that audience is driven only by content and no or factors. This, finally, can be seen coming to fruition. rise of sleeper hits like 12th Fail, Article 370, and Lapataa Lies have stressed importance of content being greater than star-driven machines which offer stale content in grander, more lavish settings each time. Speaking to PTI, tre analyst Taran arsh said, “You don't like having biryani every day. Similarly, you need a change in genre also, not just actors. You can't really have same stuff being rolled out to audience and expect m to lap it up big time.”

Sameer Nair of Applause Entertainment, who is also one of producers for Do Aur Do Pyaar, told PTI, “Audiences don't come for genres, y come for story, characters and relationship drama.” Talking specifically about action-genre fatigue, which is said to be case of Fighter, Be Miyan Chote Miyan, Tiger 3 and Yoddha, he said, “Every viewer watching an action film knows all tropes: re will be helicopters, big bazookas etc.”

Ramesh Bala tells us, “On paper, a movie can be great, but it is content that has to .” He argued that all scripts make for box office viable films but audience has to resonate with content of movies for it to be really successful. He also argued, “re is always an element of what connects to audience. Sometimes, if nothing is unique, if you just have mass action pieces shot in Jordan, it becomes too formulated. Something has to be new. re is no compelling reason to go to atres.” 

Vanity - Is it weighing down on a film’s budget?

A posse of helpers trotting around actors while y carry on with ir daily activities is what makes a celebrity entourage. It is said that bigger star, bigger ir entourage. A 2018 report by Film Companion stated that Priyanka Chopra has 25 people as her showrunners. Eventually, as star salary increases, pay scale of ancillaries sees an increase as well.

Recently, Kriti Sanon argued that some things are necessary for an actor and artist would not be able to do without it. She shared, “But if you are in a film where you need to make a certain kind of body for that particular role, n obviously from actor a lot of effort goes into achieving that. expenses n, rightly so, producer takes care of. So, you need to understand what is needed and what is luxury. producers have to take a call.” ditionally, Kriti also argued that a team for make-up, costume and stylist is important for artists and sometimes y get ir assistants because of hefty amount of work.

In an interaction with Twin Encounter, Farah Khan did not shy away from calling out actors and actresses for feeling need to always travel with at least eight to nine people at ir service. Her concern over practice stemmed from fact that its financial impact weighed heavily on budget while not contributing to film in any capacity. She said, " change I would like to bring about is that entourage cost has become too much. An actress comes with nine people, an actor comes with eight people. That is a waste of resources. That cost is nowhere to be seen in film. That needs to be controlled a bit."

cost of actor’s hairstylist, trainers, personal nutritionist, makeup artists, PRs and sometimes ir assistants are all tritionally borne by producer. This puts an ditional stress on film’s budget. refore, even if a movie performs decently at box office, se extraorbiant overhes raise budget multifold making it unable to break even.

Will second half of 2024 be a game-changer for Bollywood? 

In a conversation with PTI, Bihar-based exhibitor Vishek Chauhan, shed light on grim situation of industry. He said, “Bollywood producers are afraid of box office. situation is grim because of poor performance of films this year, including two disastrous Eid releases ... Despite having stars, budgets, and festive dates, movies have tanked.”

All eyes are now on movies like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, Kalki 2898 , Singham Again, Baby John, Jigra and Metro..In Dino to see if Bollywood can replicate success of 2023.