The Bollywood Blues - A Tale of Lost Substance and the Struggle for Survival

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a severe blow to Bollywood, triggering a major shift in how audiences consume content. With theaters closed, people turned to Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms for entertainment. The convenience of watching movies at home on personal screens, combined with the affordability of streaming services, led to an unprecedented boom for these platforms. OTT platforms allowed users to watch numerous films for a fraction of the price of a cinema ticket. Eventually, free streaming services, like Amazon Mini TV, emerged, relying on an ad-supported model similar to YouTube. Now, Amazon has consolidated its free service by merging Mini TV with MX Player, creating Amazon MX Player, a service offering a vast array of films, series, and even classic and international content dubbed in Hindi—all for free. With such convenient and varied options, Bollywood faces an uphill battle to win back its audience, as competition intensifies not only from Hollywood but also regional and international content.

Bollywood’s struggles extend beyond external competition, as internal issues have been festering for years. Corporatization has become a dominant force, where profit drives decisions over creativity. The industry increasingly adheres to a formula: safe, action-heavy plots, remakes, and star-studded casts. Large-budget films loaded with visual effects, sequels, remade songs, and extensive marketing campaigns have become the go-to strategy. However, such films, despite sometimes achieving blockbuster status, often lack depth and fail to leave a lasting impact. The magic of thought-provoking narratives that resonate with the audience has taken a back seat, making room for commercially viable but often forgettable films. As a result, Bollywood is losing its identity, and its cinematic value is gradually eroding. 

A quick look at Bollywood’s top-grossing films of recent years reveals a trend of high-budget blockbusters that prioritize spectacle over substance. Films like “Jawan” and “Pathan”—though massive commercial successes—were criticized for average screenwriting, direction, and execution. Even films featuring Bollywood’s most prominent actors, like Shah Rukh Khan’s “Dilwale” and “Happy New Year”, fall short when compared to his earlier masterpieces such as “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” and “Swades”. Similarly, Salman Khan’s legacy has shifted from acclaimed classics like “Hum Aapke Hain Kaun” to formulaic action hits such as “Tiger Zinda Hai” and “Kick”. While these films may do well at the box office, they lack the storytelling and emotional depth that characterize the classics. A look back at Bollywood’s golden age reveals films like “Sholay” and “Mughal-e-Azam”, which are widely celebrated even today for their narrative strength and artistic value—qualities that are often missing in contemporary high-grossing films.

This erosion of quality and creativity within Bollywood is further exacerbated by the industry's rigid corporatized structure. Visionary filmmakers such as Shekhar Kapur and Mani Ratnam had long warned of this development. Shekhar Kapur once shared his concerns on Twitter, explaining how corporatization stifles creativity by pushing directors into making commercially safe films rather than taking artistic risks. Studios, rather than filmmakers, often decide the content of a film, rendering directors mere facilitators of the studio’s vision rather than artists with creative control. Filmmaker Shyam Benegal echoes this sentiment, comparing today’s studio-backed films to a factory line of identical products, each designed to maximize profit rather than artistic expression.

The rise of corporatization in Bollywood mirrors a similar trend in Hollywood, where studio franchises dominate the market. However, Bollywood is at a disadvantage when competing with Hollywood’s substantial budgets and advanced VFX technology, making it challenging to stand out. Moreover, Bollywood faces severe income inequality. According to Ormax Media, in 2023, 40% of the box office revenue came from the top 1% of films. The vast majority of smaller productions struggle to turn a profit, and only a handful of low-budget films managed to break even or succeed commercially. Big-budget failures like “Ganapath” and “Shehzada” highlight the limits of Bollywood’s hit formula. These films, despite enormous investments, failed to make a mark, showing that the formula does not guarantee success.

One of the biggest financial challenges facing Bollywood is the exorbitant fees demanded by top actors, who often take home a substantial portion of the film’s budget. For instance, reports indicate that Akshay Kumar charged Rs. 600 million for a recent project, constituting over half the film's total budget. This leaves little funding for crucial elements like the screenplay, direction, or CGI, ultimately compromising the film’s quality. As a result, audiences now have high-quality international options, from “Avengers” to “Avatar”, that Bollywood’s high-priced but often lower-quality films can’t compete with.

This vicious cycle of prioritizing profit over creativity impacts even independent films, which struggle to secure theater space and face rapid replacement by big-budget releases. Directors like Dibakar Banerjee have voiced their frustration, revealing how independent cinema is systematically sidelined. Independent films are often squeezed out of theaters before they have a chance to build an audience, receiving little to no prime-time slots. Classics such as “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” needed time to gain popularity and might have failed if subjected to today’s ruthless release schedules. Many acclaimed films, such as “All That Breathes” and the biographical film on Khudiram Bose, receive international accolades but struggle to find space in Indian theaters.

In addition to limited theater availability, rising ticket prices create further barriers, especially in metropolitan areas like Delhi. For many, the cost of a theater ticket has become prohibitively high, limiting the audience to those willing to spend extra. With more affordable streaming options, audiences are naturally inclined to stay home, which further diminishes Bollywood’s traditional audience.

While OTT platforms continue to evolve and cater to viewers’ tastes, Bollywood seems stuck in a cycle of commercial-driven mediocrity. This trend is creating a growing divide between the content audiences crave and what Bollywood studios offer. Despite the corporatized culture, audiences have shown a consistent appetite for meaningful cinema. Films like “12th Fail” and “Laapataa Ladies”, which were modestly budgeted, became profitable and earned critical acclaim because of their engaging narratives. Such films underscore that storytelling, not star power or elaborate sets, resonates with viewers.

Industry experts like Javed Akhtar have pointed out that Bollywood has lost the ability to produce compelling characters with depth and relatability. Akhtar draws a contrast between the nuanced “angry young man” character portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s and 1980s and the one-dimensional characters that now dominate screens. Today’s characters may possess anger and intensity, but they often lack the emotional depth that made their predecessors memorable. The rise of corporate-driven content creation has replaced veteran creatives with young MBAs, who may be skilled in profit analysis but lack the experience to produce meaningful cinema.

Bollywood’s current woes are not solely the result of external pressures like OTT competition or Hollywood’s growing influence. The industry’s deep-seated structural issues are exacerbating the decline, creating a disconnect between the studios and audiences. With the focus on box office returns, the industry fails to nurture the kind of cinema that resonates across generations.

Ultimately, Bollywood’s survival hinges on a shift away from the current profit-driven approach. It must prioritize storytelling, creativity, and artistic integrity to revive its connection with audiences. In an age when global content is more accessible than ever, Bollywood’s unique identity and ability to capture the essence of Indian life can be its greatest assets. If the industry can move past its obsession with the blockbuster formula and embrace genuine, thought-provoking cinema, Bollywood can reclaim its place not only in Indian culture but also on the global stage. For this transformation to happen, however, the industry must recognize that audiences are looking for more than superficial entertainment—they seek films that leave a lasting impact, films that are worth remembering.