Since 2017, a string of releases which were issue-based have seen a good run at the box office.
The box office success of most of the movies released this year show that quality content will always find audience, so much that they're giving star-packed line-ups or festive holiday openings a run for their money.
From suspense thriller to horror comedy, in the last eight months filmmakers have tried and tested diverse genres and moviegoers have also appreciated this novelty and freshness.
Take the example of Rajkumar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor-starrer Stree that is creating huge stir with its intriguing story line. Although the genre it is based — horror comedy — on has been successful in the past, it is the film’s trade magnitude that is surprising all.
Something similar happened with films like Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (SKTKS), Raazi, Veeri Di Wedding. These films surpassed all trade expectations and worked at a time when movies with big stars like Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar were unable to deliver hits.
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Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh pointed another similarity in some of the box office successes this year. Despite being non-holiday releases, the likes of SKTKS, Raazi, Sanju and Stree had a strong run. He said that “timing the release of a movie during festivals / holidays does not guarantee success. Deliver qualitative content and non-holidays will turn into a festival for investors.”
In 2017 too, content was king and it was the story, above everything else, that made a film successful. From Lipstick Under My Burkha to Newton, issue-based cinema triumphed over mediocre films. Save a few exceptions, cohesive story-telling took precedence over mindless cinema. The year also shifted focus from dreamy locations abroad to the hinterland to contextualise their stories in tier-2, tier-3 towns such as Varanasi, Lucknow, and Bareilly which added depth and familiarity to the script and characters. It reflected the lives of the majority of the middle-class audiences who unarguably enjoyed, but could never really connect to glitz and glamour of big cities.
2017 and 2018 could very well be the years that set the trend for times to come with cinema not driven solely by stars but as much as by relatable and real content.