Indian filmmaker explains Bollywood's box office slump

Indian filmmaker Vikram Bhatt has shared his thoughts on the recent slump in the box office performance of Bollywood films.

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Best known for films such as ‘Ghulam’ and ‘Raaz,’ the filmmaker drew a comparison between the Hindi film industry and South cinema.

In a recent interview with an Indian media outlet, Vikram Bhatt suggested that Bollywood was facing a decline as makers have stopped making ‘massy’ films.

“Everyone forgot the masses and went to niche films. And during COVID, the audience’s habit of watching films in theatres disappeared. We stopped making massy films,” he said.

According to the notable filmmaker, the Hindi film industry has been ignoring fans of mass entertainers.

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“Niche audience says the movie will come on OTT or television soon…the mass audience, we ignored them completely. But the South film industry did not do that. They always made movies for the masses, and that’s why South movies are successful,” Vikram Bhatt said.

He added, “They [audience] still consider the villain a villain, still whistle and clap. Hum toh waisi films banana bhul gaye jise dekhkar audience seeti aur taaliya bajaye (we forgot to make films which get whistles and applause from the audience).”

The filmmaker was of the view that his counterparts in the South cinema give more importance to content than star cast.

“This whole problem can be solved in a minute if music companies, digital and satellite companies start giving this message that we need good songs, we need good pictures. If you support a good movie, not a star cast, then the producer will not be burdened,” he said.