Amid Bollywood's Struggle, Regional Movies Bringing Audience Back To Theaters

Mumbai, May 14 - The Indian entertainment sector is witnessing a major change and no one was prepared for that. The largest and arguably the most influential Indian film industry, Bollywood is going through the worst phase of its history which is truly shocking to the fraternity.

Bollywood, which has always been considered the heart of Indian cinema, has produced many blockbusters and path-breaking films over the years. However, ever since the covid-19 pandemic has broken out, Bollywood has been really struggling to find audiences in theaters. Apart from a few movies like Sooryavanshi, Gangubai Kathiawadi, and The Kashmir Files, almost all other Bollywood films have struggled at the box office over the last year.



While the covid-19 pandemic has actually challenged and changed the entertainment consuming pattern of the audiences, this is, by no means, the sole reason behind Bollywood's downfall. Apart from the aforementioned box office hits, most of the other Bollywood films weren't appealing to the audiences that are now looking for a larger-than-life cinema.

However, the struggle of Bollywood does not mean that other Indian regional film industries are going through the same. There was a time when regional films were finding it difficult to get success, but the time has changed since SS Rajamouli's Baahubali 2, and now, the movies of South, Marathi, and Gujrati are proving a boon to the Indian exhibition sector.

Since January 2021, the South Indian movies have been running the whole show. While films from Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada, have broken the barrier of languages and found immense success in Hindi, there were films that couldn't make it to the Pan Indian audiences but still did wonders at the box office. Among those, Uppena, Jathi Ratnalu, Doctor, Love Story, Akhanda, Kurup, and others proved standout performers and brought the audiences back to theaters in large numbers.



It's not only that South Indian movies are working well at the ticket window, the Marathi, Punjabi, Gujrati, and Bengali movies also seem to be at their peak post-pandemic. Over the last few months, Marathi films like Pawankhind, Sher Shivraj, Lochya Zaala Re, and the latest in theaters Dharmaveer, have really done well at the box office. The same can be said for Punjabi films like Honsla Rakh, Puada, Qismat 2, and Chal Mera Putt 3, among others, have struck gold.

The downfall of Bollywood is a worrying sign for the Indian exhibition sector and there is an urgent need to relook at it. On the brighter side, Bollywood has been investing in some of the larger-than-life films, which used to be the biggest USP of Bollywood in the late 90s. On the other hand, the rise and rise of regional cinema have reignited hope and it should be seen as the brightest thing amid the glimpses of darkness.

Stay tuned...