Bollywood has been on the receiving end many a times and specially for the past couple of years. People have blamed it to be a copycat, a remake factory for its several regional film adaptations. Many amongst the audience have also called out for boycotts of some of the biggest films due to certain propagandas.
There’s also debates around favouritism and nepotism and a lot more. The Hindi film industry has been reeling under pressure for long for not being able to bring out as many good movies as it should have. Pandemic and the resultant lockdown only made things worse.
There were and still remain many problems but we can finally see some glimmer of hope that is getting brighter by the day. The comeback started slowly last year with ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ and ‘The Kashmir Files’ which was then taken forward by films like ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’, ‘Jugjugg Jeeyo’, ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’, ‘Brahmastra: Part One- Shiva’, ‘Chup: Revenge of the Artist’ and ‘An Action Hero’.
But the big bang came when Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Pathan’ released in January this year and King Khan made a massive comeback not just for himself but for the Hindi film industry as well. The film is still ruling the box office and has brought a big breather for the industry.
March has yet again been exciting because of Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor’s ‘Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar’, the very recently released Nandita Das’ Kapil Sharma starrer ‘Zwigato’ and Rani Mukherji’s ‘Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway’.
While TJMM revived the genre of romcom beautifully in times of action and thrill dominance, ‘Zwigato’ and ‘Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway’ justify how cinema is an art and when done right nothing can keep it down.
Not that there haven’t been dull moments in this period, to be honest there have been quite a few. The hope comes from the fact that there has been a worse phase and the industry really seems to be getting back on its feet after limping for a very long time. We can only wish the journey from here is upwards and onwards, despite the knowledge that a few bumps along the way will always be there.