In pursuit of numbers: How The Kashmir Files changed the destiny of Bollywood and Hollywood changed the rules

The business of Indian cinema of 2022 would make for one interesting case study. It has been a rollercoaster year for films in India, in fact, a year of extreme highs and lows. More than that, it is the shocks and surprises that it has unfolded. It was a year of formulas no longer working and sleeper and surprise hits taking the industry by the storm. Till about August-September, Bollywood appeared to be a sinking ship.
Even big budget films or films with A-listers seemed to make no or little impact on the audiences.

Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha, which was a Hindi remake of Forrest Gump failed miserably. Made at a budget of Rs 180 crores, managed to garner a collection of Rs 129.64 crores worldwide. Another major Samrat Prithviraj starring Akshay Kumar and former Miss World Manushi Chhillar that was made at a huge budget of Rs 200 crores, it earned only Rs 90.32 crores worldwide gross. On the contrary, The Kashmir Files, a small budget film, made Rs 340.92 crores and changed the dynamics of the industry, proving that the scale does not matter. Films like Liger, Raksha Bandhan, Ram Setu, which had weak storylines failed to impress the audiences even though they were multi-starrers and in the case of Liger, the Bollywood debut of Vijay Devarakonda while Amitabh Bachchan-Neena Gupta starrer Uunchai which released in limited number of theatres but touched the audiences emotionally earned Rs 47.45 crores worldwide.

It was only after the release of Brahmastra – Part One: Shiva and Bhool Bhulaiyya 2 that the Indian film industry breathed a sigh of relief. With VFX by Prime Focus, matching the standard of the Marvel universe, Brahmastra shone at the box office with a collection of Rs 418.8 crores worldwide gross while the latter, that proved to be an entertainer with a promising star-cast, raked in Rs 266.88 crores worldwide. With this, Brahmastra also broke the dry spell in Bollywood. With the pairing of couple Alia Bhatt-Ranbir Kapoor, India’s first ‘superhero’ film and an attempt to create India’s own Marvel universe, was taken well by the audience.

Around the same time, films from the Southern side of the country and big banner and budget Hollywood films seemed to be doing well at the box office. RRR, KGF Chapter 2, Sita Ramam, Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1, outshone Hindi films. Even the Hindi remake of Malayalam film Drishyam 2 earned Rs 326.39 crores, proving the the South is a melting pot of stories and content.

Servings from Hollywood this year, most of which were sequels of popular franchises, have turned to be a game-changer for the industry, making India an important overseas market for international studios. Tom Cruise-starrer Top Gun: Maverick had an India collection of more than Rs 48 crores while Thor: Love and Thunder earned more than Rs 100 crores and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness earned Rs 130 crores. The Batman starring Robert Pattinson earned more than Rs 48 crores in India. More recently, Avatar: The Way of Water has, in fact, left behind many major Bollywood blockbusters this year. The film which is still continuing its run at the box office has so far earned Rs 300 crores in India alone.

What has changed
The two years of the pandemic, compelled a shift from the big screens to the OTT space. Not only did the audiences pick up OTTs as their preferred, cheaper and convenient means of watching global cinema and content but even the makers of films and shows took to the OTT space to release their films.

The change in sensibilities of the audiences also reflected in the way they chose to consume content. Formula films and superstars were not enough to pull audiences to theatres. But larger than life films with good and impactful stories did. Films with quality VFX too had a good run while those that offered poor quality visual effects, as in case of Adipurush, were forced to level up (as the makers decided to push its release to work on their visual effects technology). Hollywood films, most of which were sequels of popular films like Avatar, Batman, Thor and Top Gun, which already enjoy a huge fanbase, had an easy run at the India box office and their popularity worked in their favour.

According to The India Box Office report by Ormax Media, the language share of Gross Domestic Box Office is 35% for Hindi, 8% for Hollywood, and 21% for Telugu (the highest among regional languages). This goes on to show that the Hindi dominion over the Indian box office is over and regional and Hollywood language films are being accepted more than ever now. As, compared to 2019, when the Hindi share was 44%, Hollywood and regional cinema surely seem to be taking over. Now with Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning releasing early next year, the India would once again prove to be a lucrative market for the Hollywood biggie.

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