Explainer: Big star, expensive VFX and budget of Rs 500 crore also failed! After all, where is Bollywood going wrong?

Why Big Budget Bollywood Movies Flopping: Today in Expeller we will talk about why even films with a budget of Rs 500 crore in Bollywood are not doing wonders on the big screen. Many times you must have noticed why films with such a big budget do not become hits. On one hand, even small budget films are earning Rs 500 crores, then why do these films flop despite big stars, expensive VFX and so much marketing. There are many reasons behind all this which you might have ever thought about. Here we will tell you about these reasons in detail. Let’s start.

Big star, expensive VFX and budget of Rs 500 crore also failed!

There was a time in Bollywood when the audience used to rush to theaters as soon as they saw the face of a big star on the poster of a film. Whether the budget of the film was Rs 100 crore or Rs 300 crore, success at the box office was considered certain. But in today’s time, the formula of box office hit and blockster has completely changed. Now the audience is not ready to buy tickets just after seeing big stars, expensive sets and heavy VFX. This is the reason why many such films have been released in recent years, on which hundreds of crores of rupees were spent. But she could not perform as expected at the box office. The most interesting thing is that during this period, low budget films achieved great success. This made it clear that in today’s era, not the budget but the content is the real star, which is the most important thing to make a film a hit.

Story is weak, glitter is more

In today’s time, the biggest deficiency of Bollywood is visible in the content. Many producers and directors assumed that the grand sets, foreign locations and modern VFX would bring the audience to the theatre. But the tastes of the audience have changed. Now the audience connects only with those films whose story is strong. The audience wants to connect with the film emotionally. He wants such characters with which he can connect himself. When the story of a film is weak, even expensive visuals cannot save the film. The biggest example in front of you is Prabhash starrer Adipurush film.

The budget of this film is said to be around Rs 500 to 600 crores. People had a lot of expectations from this film. But its weak dialogues, controversial content and questions raised about VFX harmed the film’s image. The result of which was that even such a big budget film did not run in theaters as expected.

South industry has spoiled the game of Bollywood.

In the last few years, films from the South Industry have changed the equation of Bollywood films. In this, ‘RRR’, ‘Kantara’, ‘Pushpa’ and many pan-India films that followed proved that the audience is no longer limited to Bollywood only. The biggest specialty of South films is that they paid equal attention to a strong story along with a big canvas. A balance of local culture, emotion, action and entertainment was seen in these films. On the other hand, in many Bollywood films, the story of the audience was not as strong as the South films. In such a situation, the audience started understanding that the producers of the film were paying more attention only to glamor instead of understanding the Indian culture and emotion. This is the reason why the influence of South films continued to increase in the Hindi belt too.

Stars’ fees are also becoming a big problem

Fees of Bollywood stars are also a major reason for films flopping. In many films, a large part of the total budget is spent on artistes’ fees. Suppose the budget of a film is Rs 300 crore. In such a situation, if Rs 100 to 150 crore goes towards the fees of the lead actor, then that much budget is not available for the film’s script, technician team, research and other important things. Its full impact falls on the story of the film. Many experts believe that Bollywood will have to move towards a profit-sharing model like Hollywood and South Industry, where artists earn with success, and not take the entire amount upfront.

Over-reliance on remakes and sequels

There was a time when remake films were considered a guarantee of success. But now the audience has become more aware than before. In such a situation, if a film is a remake of a South or Hollywood film, then the audience often prefers watching it. Similarly, in many sequel films, only an attempt is made to take advantage of the old brand, but more effort is put into the story. The result was that the audience rejected many such projects which only had the name of the franchise but had no substance in the new story.

In recent years, many big projects have shocked the industry.

Lone man

Bollywood actors were also seen in Adipurush. This film was made on a budget of around Rs 500-600 crore. It was counted among the most awaited films of Indian cinema at that time. But after release the audience rejected it.

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Despite star cast like Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, the film could not please the audience. This movie was made on a budget of approximately Rs 350 crore. It suffered huge losses at the box office. The biggest reason for this was the weak story and the inability to connect with people emotionally.

Field

Ajay Devgan starrer Maidaan was praised by the critics, but did not gather the kind of crowd at the box office that was expected. Which clearly shows that despite it being a good film, it is also important to reach the audience in the right way.

What is the way forward?

Considering the changing trends of today’s times, Bollywood will have to change its strategy. Big budget alone does not guarantee success. The script of the film definitely deserves more attention. Time and money will have to be spent on script development. A balance has to be struck between star fee and production cost. Also the changing preferences of the audience have to be understood.

The most important thing is that Indian audience still likes to watch good films in theatre. The latest example of this is Ranveer Singh’s blockbuster franchise film. In such a situation, the problem is not in the audience, but in those films which are made assuming that budget is the weapon for success. One has to understand that the audience can be invited to the theater by spending crores of rupees, but even today only a strong story does the work of keeping them glued to the seats.

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