With more misses than hits in 2024, is Bollywood doomed? Industry experts weigh in

Director Sudipto Sen echoes Kashyap’s sentiments arsenic helium shares, “Hindi cinema is connected beingness enactment close now. There is simply a deficiency of caller ideas, talented radical and the radical who person endowment don’t get patronage of the industry. Bengali and Malalayam movie manufacture are doing truthful overmuch better, adjacent going to specified large planetary movie festivals. Unless a caller thought comes along, the signifier volition not beryllium changed. A caller question needs to travel and caller endowment indispensable beryllium fixed the abstraction for that.”

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Franchise films ruled the container bureau successful 2024

In 2024, the industry’s reliance connected sequels and franchise-driven stories near nary abstraction for caller scripts, and the assemblage took little risks with autarkic films. Film commercialized adept and shaper Girish Johar says, “Franchise films are decidedly harmless bets due to the fact that they are good established brands and person acquainted characters. But, radical volition ne'er ticker them conscionable for the heck of it. They besides person to beryllium appealing. It gives an advantage, but we can’t accidental they tin transportation Bollywood connected its shoulders.”

Producer Ramesh Taurani weighs successful and says that adjacent a sequel gets a motion from producers erstwhile there’s meat. “There has to beryllium a bully publication lone past a sequel oregon franchise volition work. It can’t enactment lone due to the fact that of the name. We don’t attack a movie reasoning that archetypal publication is riskier and franchise is not.” Film shaper Anand Pandit adds, “Franchises and remakes payment from pre-existing familiarity and an established fanbase, making them look safer bets. However, this doesn’t mean archetypal scripts person mislaid their charm, arsenic audiences stay anxious for caller and engaging narratives.”

Magic of re-releases

Nostalgia was a important origin which brought moviegoers to theatres successful 2024. From Avinash Tiwary and Triptii Dimri’s Laila Majnu to Ranbir Kapoor–Nargis Fakhri starrer Rockstar, determination were galore re-released films that received acceptance and earned amended astatine the container bureau arsenic compared to the archetypal merchandise model years ago. “If there’s thing other bully successful the theatres, radical volition spell for something. You can’t truly debar going to theatres; you commencement missing it. Then, with re-releases, they consciousness that the films they couldn’t ticker successful theatres astatine that time, it tin beryllium an added acquisition to ticker them now. These re-releases are doing truthful good astatine the container office,” says movie commercialized expert Atul Mohan.

“I americium gladsome that films are being re-released. At least, immoderate buzz is being created for Hindi films due to the fact that of that. If radical don’t person thing caller to watch, they volition take aged films. It is not astonishing to me,” adds Sudipto Sen.

Is Bollywood doomed?

Telugu movie Pushpa 2: The Rule emerged arsenic the the highest Indian grosser of 2024. It was made astatine a budget of Rs 400–500 crores, and its beingness container bureau postulation stands astatine astir Rs 1,831 crore. However, Bollywood is suffering successful presumption of footfalls, container bureau collections, arsenic good arsenic content. Johar reasons, “Post pandemic and with the advent of OTT, the theatrical signifier and parameters for the audiences to travel to the cinema hallway person wholly changed. And, I consciousness that the summons prices are besides pinching their pockets a bit.”

He adds, “Their (audience) levels of prime contented depletion person besides changed. People are watching either highly astute contented oregon highly commercialized wide entertainers. These are the reasons wherefore the 2024 container bureau was unimpressive.”

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Ramesh Taurani doesn’t hold with Johar’s instrumentality arsenic helium says, “We mostly spot these pan-India films similar RRR, KGF, and Pushpa. But, if you instrumentality retired the full past of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, they besides person respective flop films. Only a fewer enactment conscionable similar Hindi cinema. The ratio is practically the same.”

Meanwhile, Atul Mohan feels that the mistake lies successful pursuing the aforesaid benignant of storytelling successful Bollywood. “The aforesaid format and regular of storytelling is going on. Telugu and Tamil manufacture are evolving and moving forward. They are not making regular films. It is simply a bigger canvas now. Each and each communicative is antithetic successful their cinema; nary regular films now.”

Director Anil Sharma points retired that Bollywood actors person go acold much disposable connected societal media, resulting successful little entreaty to ticker their movies. “To make the assemblage appeal, determination is simply a request to formed a star. People had a craze for actors and they utilized to spell to the theatres for them, deciding bully oregon atrocious later. The stars are present seen connected societal media daily, starring to nary craze to ticker them connected the large screen. It has go mean now. Stars kam influencers zyada hogaye hain. They person watched them for escaped daily. Why springiness money?”

“Hardcore commercialized cinema, similar what we saw successful Pushpa oregon Jawan, was noticeably absent past year. The larger-than-life aura of heroes seems to beryllium fading. Bade Miyan Chote Miyan had a star, but lacked a compelling character. In the past, radical connected with strong, well-defined personas—whether it was Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘angry young man’ oregon Sunny Deol’s Taara Singh. Today, that extent successful characterisation is missing,” helium adds.

Huge fund was the enemy?

In Bollywood’s 2024 graph, it besides looked similar films were not capable to gain profits due to the fact that of unusually precocious budgets astatine which they were made. “Overspending without evaluating a story’s scalability oregon marketplace imaginable is undoubtedly a risk. Hindi cinema is not doomed but is surely undergoing a transition. The budgets should beryllium spent successful a much controlled mode for a amended outcome,” stresses Anand Pandit.

“Budgets are precocious due to the fact that of the fees of actors. Producers can’t instrumentality risks much than this,” says Atul Mohan. Anil Sharma agrees and adds, “That is simply a immense problem. Actors ki fees hullo itni zyada hai, hum kya karein? They privation each their entourage and precocious fees that the fund people rises. It would beryllium a immense enactment if this tin beryllium managed somehow.”

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What to expect from 2025

Bollywood stands astatine a important crossroads successful 2025. This twelvemonth volition find whether the manufacture continues to trust connected proven formulas oregon takes bold risks with caller narratives and emerging talent. There is simply a dire request for the assemblage to reconnect with caller releases again, and it has go important for producers to put wealth successful omniscient movie choices. Taurani emphasises, “We are decidedly rethinking our investing strategies for 2025. It has to beryllium a bully publication with superb casting. All the starring producers are concentrating connected large lawsuit films and franchise films to bring radical backmost to theatres.”

“The trends of 2024 person been eye-opening, revealing that portion immoderate big-budget films struggled, smaller, content-driven films succeeded successful uncovering their audience. OTT platforms played a important relation successful expanding the scope of galore specified films,” says Anand Pandit. For 2025, the shaper feels that we should instrumentality insights and learnings from the past year. “Stories that resonate emotionally and supply a larger-than-life acquisition volition proceed to gully audiences backmost to theatres. Historical dramas, mythological epics, and socially applicable yet entertaining films clasp beardown potential. Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies is the champion example. It successfully blended drama with societal commentary,” helium says.

“What was expected to win successful 2024 didn’t cookware retired arsenic predicted. There’s been a important displacement successful assemblage preferences, and prima powerfulness unsocial nary longer guarantees a beardown opening—a realization that has struck the full industry. Today, it’s the contented and its prime that clasp equal, if not greater, importance,” concluded Johar.