The changing times!

​The year 2017 was bad for Bollywood. That is also an understatement. Big banners had dished out real below average content and the year saw tragedy after tragedy at the box office. In that sense 2018 has been sunshine in a big way. Not that movies have just done well. Some of them have probably been riding a wave when audiences seem to be in a mood to lap up just whatever comes in the way having said that success is an undeniable fact for all these movies.

2018 turned out to be different when a movie called ‘Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety’ broke the unprecedented barrier by crossing the Rs 100 crore mark. Then came the surprising success of a movie like ‘Baaghi 2’ and ‘Satyameva Jayate’. In any other year probably, these movies would have not done so well. However, the simple fact is that the audience showered their love on these films and they got great profits for the makers.

The real noticeable part of 2018 has been the range of movies that have hit the bulls-eye at the box office. Some of them came without much hype. The biggest example was John Abraham’s ‘Parmanu’, a movie that came with almost zero hype because reportedly John had a tiff with the makers. Yet, the movie clocked not just revenue but at some centres, it ran for 50+ days.

Around or much before ‘Parmanu’ there were three movies which indicated 2018 audiences were up for different content and genres as were the makers willing to make up for a bad last year. ‘Padman’, a movie that focused on proper healthcare and menstrual hygiene for women. ‘Hichki’, a film about a woman fighting her on health issue trying to give better education to the “have-nots” and ‘Raid’ – a story on what lay in store for tax officers when they locked horns with the powerful.

The real game changer has come in the last two months. Trust Ayushman Khurrana to ride this wave of change; this actor has done more different content than some of our other high-rated stars could ever imagine. Riding on his image and good work from last year Ayushman came up with ‘Andhadhun’. Written and helmed by the master of suspense Sriram Raghavan. This one kept the audiences hooked and a story where Tabbu has played her darkest character till date has been raking in moolah since. ‘Andhadhun’ celebrates the comic side of darkness and people have loved it.

Just on the back of ‘Andhadhun’ came ‘Badhaai Ho’, which has touched a story that so many of Indian households in smaller and even bigger town have seen. So many, in fact, go for one more child in the hope that this might ignite their mundane lives. Yet, it took so many years for a director to touch the topic. Amit Ravindernath Sharma brought such hilariousness and emotional depth to the story that this one has almost eclipsed everything around it.

How many of you even knew the real name of that pleasant face guy was Gajraj Rao, who is now an overnight star because of the movie. The success and buzz around ‘Badhaai Ho’ are so big that I will not be surprised if this one holds its own against ‘Thugs of Hindostan’.

‘Tumbbad’ is another slow and confident example of success, if the claims of this one being made at a shoestring budget of Rs 5 crore are true then this one is a big box office winner too and a movie which worked purely on visuals and moments. There are barely any dialogues in the movie.

The last brilliant stuff has come in the trailer of ‘Pihu’, a two-year-old girl trapped in a flat with probably just the dead body of her mother will leave you chilled to your last nerve. A content which no director of 90s would touch.

The year has opened us to content and the game is changing. In a time when some of our celebrated stars have delivered duds like ‘Race 3’ and our celebrated makers ended up murdering classics like ‘Sairaat’ with its shining lipstick version called ‘Dhadak’, true content has ruled the roost. Thank god and the content directors for making the theatre a worth visiting place once again.

- cinemawaalebaba.blogspot.com.