Will Ajay Devgn's Drishyam 2 change the fate of Bollywood theatrical releases?

Bollywood film lovers are hoping against hope that Drishyam 2 has the potential to make a difference in the box office and theatrical releases. Drishyam has achieved cult status. It did well at the box office. But after it’s run at the box office, on satellite channels and OTT platforms, it has become so popular that everybody is waiting for Drishyam 2.

Drishyam 2 can bring back Bollywood’s past glory

Indian film trade analyst Komal Nahata who was present at the release of the trailer launch of Ajay Devgn‘s Drishyam 2 in Goa says, “I am hoping that it is going to be a very good opening. I am confident that it will not only repeat the success of Drishyam, but it will surpass Drishyam1.”

Secondly, explains Komal Nahata, “There are some people who have seen the film already, although the final copy is not out and they are going simply gaga over it and they have to say the climax of Drishyam 2 is such that very few films can boast of. So, looking at the cult status and looking at its success, I am loving the film and I have absolutely no doubt that it is going to do well. And the industry needs that one big hit. So, maybe this film will break the jinx of failures.”

What extra should Bollywood do to get back its pre-pandemic glory is the question that is playing in all Bollywood lovers’ minds. During the pandemic, the viewing habits of the audience has changed. Also they have become more aware and their tastes have become refined. They are exposed to world cinema on OTT platforms. OTT platforms were there before too, but during the lockdown people got a chance to consume content like never before and that’s when they realised that this is the level of world cinema. So, suddenly subconsciously they started comparing the Bollywood content with world cinema. And that is where Bollywood is lacking.

Komal Nahata says, “Now Bollywood needs to pull up its socks and improve its content and upgrade itself and take stock of what the audience wants. These films are not doing well when they were just released because they were pre-pandemic and are getting released now. But the industry people are very smart and the next crop of releases, probably from mid- May next year, I think we will have a lot more successful films.”

Bollywood off late is losing out to the South swag

Nahata explains, “It looks like Bollywood lost out in the last six or eight months because Bollywood propagated its own theory that action films and mass oriented action, only single screen cinemas, multiplex audience doesn’t like it. It made its theory, it started believing in it and everybody followed. So, those ten or fifteen people who said that made Bollywood assume what they were saying was right. And then came Pushpa, followed by RRR and then followed by KGF Chapter 2. “We realised that these south films debunked the theory. It took an outsider to make them understand that the theory propagated by them and propounded by them, was absolutely wrong. So, we were not giving our audience that staple diet that they were so fond of. And it is time that Bollywood needs to reinvent themselves and realise that some of the theories they had propounded were not right because action films are doing pretty well.”

OTT boom killing theatrical releases

When television came, people felt that it was the end of the big screen, because sitting at home we can see content for free at home and the convenience factor. But, says Nahata, “Then too we realized that television and cinemas co-existed. OTT is another format of the small screen that is the convenience factor of course, but what still is an alarming factor is that audiences are consuming cinema content only on the OTT platforms.”

So, it is true that OTT has come with a big bang and has hit theatrical Bollywood releases very badly.  Not to say that OTT brought an end to cinema!

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