Goes to India for Screenplay Ideas, Seeks Hollywood for Event Film Talent

Now that we’ve had enough of how the Brahmastra has emerged as Bollywood’s magic weapon in fighting failures and boycotts, it’s time for the Hindi film industry to get the big picture.Ranbir Kapoor and What the big bang opening of Alia Bhatt’s movie shows is that this is how New Age Bollywood fans want their entertainment offerings. Stars and filmmakers need to grasp that box office tip.

Fans are fed up with lazy quick-fix remakes of South Indian and foreign hits already available on OTT, or movies that mindlessly recycle clichés under the pretext of delivering a message. Brahmastra shows that cutting-edge entertainers, combining original stories with contemporary appeal, can be created from traditionally Indian stories. Myths and folklore have a treasure trove of ideas to tap into, but Bollywood has rarely seen it before. Indeed, writer-director Ayan Mukerji’s fantasy his adventures had a cohesive script and some more clever twists. Also, talk about the film’s lack of imagination in storytelling was dashed by celebratory fantasies for its whopping opening weekend haul pegged at around Rs 225 million worldwide. But aggressive hype and marketing, backed by a big star cast, glossy packaging, and the right release strategy, have traditionally been the parameters of success in Bollywood, where style continues to take precedence over substance. However, there are differences between Brahmastra and most other big Bollywood heavyweights that scored despite their flaws. It rolls out thinly over its run time, but it’s nothing like what Bollywood usually tries to do. Beyond the decorative glare and narrative warts of his films, Ayan Mukerji has shown how he needs to create a new Bollywood movie if it needs to capture the imagination of audiences. rice field.

Aside from its good-looking lead cast and star-studded cameo roster, the film’s USP really lies in the way it balances its contrasting formulas. , the action is in the style of Marvel adventures. Viewed in 3D format, the Brahmastra is, at least technically, almost on par with the best anywhere. In a multiplex scenario where films from across India and around the world are regularly dubbed in Hindi for local audiences, proper technical specs are an aspect Bollywood can no longer afford to cover up.

Crucially, there is the issue of reinventing the masala film itself.In the past few years, parts of the industry, the media, and social media have been criticized that the commercial Bollywood formula no longer exists in mainstream cinema, and that the state-of-the-art The movie has made a fuss about demanding a realistic treatment that it can never match. Bigger-than-life storytelling tools. It is therefore interesting to see how both Brahmastra and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (Bollywood’s two biggest commercial hits of the year) have reframed the formula. It retains all the vintage formula (songs, boy-girl romances, stunts, melodrama) that it is known for and puts it in a technically perfected package aimed at captivating today’s audience with a visually appealing Pack all your VFX. The reported budget he exceeds 400 crore.

Bollywood in recent years believed the era of masala films was over, and as a result there were many Hollywood-style films that failed to find a connection with their audience. emphasizes the fact that there is Vintage masala flicks aren’t going anywhere — just how the Kevin Feige-led Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) continues to reinvent superhero movies from time to time, or the James Bond franchise owners regroup for decades. We need to rethink the way we have thrived over the years. 007 Basic every few years. Bollywood’s commercial film template has long needed a restructuring, not because it has become obsolete, but because it has had to accommodate changing tastes. We have shown that it is possible by presenting larger-than-life fun in an environment that is unlikely to exist.

By the way, most of this year’s blockbusters, with the exception of Brahmastra and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, failed to strike the balance between reinventing and preserving what essentially defines the Bollywood mainstream. Laal Singh Chaddha, Raksha Bandhan, Samrat Prithviraj, Bachchhan Paandey, Heropanti 2 or Jugjugg Jeeyo were all lavishly mounted and aggressively marketed fares. However, all of these films either adhered to the specs for the image of the lead star in question, or offered a general formula that had worked in the past.

The Ranbir Aria starrer Brahmastra — featuring specially scripted roles of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Nagarjuna — is also a rare Bollywood release of the year that lives up to its name as an event film. If you notice a new trend, the post-Corona scenario is one in which the big screen is becoming exclusively the domain of event cinema. A highly hyped release offering all-around entertainment, made to be tasted only in theaters. The success of South Indian blockbusters such as KGF 2, RRR and Pushpa: The Rise — Part 01 across India also underscores this fact. As movies get more expensive, ticket-paying audiences choose to only step into the halls if the movie requires viewing on the big screen. This may be why almost all other smaller films are struggling to find audiences in theaters these days, a trend that may also have something to do with the rise of his streaming platform. This is because most small to mid-budget films can find an audience as soon as they are released in the OTT domain, regardless of their theatrical release.

Of course, the event heavyweights have their flip side. If things go wrong and a big-budget movie crashes, the loss could be irreparable: pretty much every turnip Akshay Kumar has released in the last 12 months or so, plus 83 and It has also occurred in large turnips such as Larsingh his Chadda. The industry may not be able to afford such losses at a time when boycott demands and the growing pan-Indian popularity of the Southern Brigades are already threatening Bollywood. Need more movies to embark on.

(All figures based on film trade estimates)

Vinayak Chakravorty is a critic, columnist and film journalist based in Delhi NCR.

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