Have Horror comedies like ‘Stree 2’ and actioners like ‘Pathaan’ taken centrestage at the box office? Has Bollywood stopped making romances like DDLJ? ETimes analysis | Hindi Movie News

Hindi cinema, or Bollywood as people popularly call it, is known for its song-and-dance and deep rooted culture shown in our movies. Love stories and romantic songs have been essentially a huge part of our movies. However, in the last few years, we’ve seen a major shift wherein only those big action movies have got in numbers at the box office. Infact, we see so many movies based on real-life incidents and meaningful cinema being made, but there’s a scarcity of good love stories on-screen which can bring in those numbers.Though, last year, we did see ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ which did very well. Apart from that, one has hardly seen any romantic movie strike a chord in a big way.
Ironically, we are seeing ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge‘ still running in Maratha Mandir cinema, 30 years after its release. Movies like ‘Laila Majnu’ and ‘Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein‘ have re-released and they are drawing people in theatres. So, then why don’t we see newer love stories being made more and attracting people to theatres? One recently witnessed that Ajay Devgn-Tabu starrer much anticipated love story, ‘Auron Mein Kya Dum Tha’ did not meet expectations at the box office. ETimes speaks to some industry insiders to dive into and analyse it. Find out!

A Vicious cycle
Writer-director Sajid Ali, whose film ‘Laila Majnu’ re-released recently, says he has no idea how the audience is flocking back to theatres to see a film which they’ve atleast seen. But talking about the dearth of love stories, he says, “I think it depends on the kind of taste people have. It’s cyclical. The problem is whenever something works, everyone is chasing the rabbit, till they kill the rabbit and they are looking for the next one. When comedy is working everyone wants to do comedy, when action is working, people want to do that. Right now, horror comedies and action movies are working. There will be a phase of romance and then the market will be saturated.”

Lack of connectivity
Dia Mirza whose film ‘RHTDM’ with R Madhavan, Saif Ali Khan has re-released in cinemas and getting immense love till date, opines, “I think there are three dimensions to why we don’t see many love stories not working at the box office. One is about the writing. Most people who are writing these love stories are from urban centres like Mumbai and Delhi. But all of India is not from Mumbai and Delhi. They are writing about the swipe right and swipe left. I think these old romantic films are working still because they are rooted in values and their music is loved.”
Talking about the lack of connectivity, Dia adds that these earlier movies like DDLJ and RHTDM were deeply rooted in Indian culture and values. “I think the core Indian values, the dialogues. The fact that Maddy doesn’t touch Reena in the film, even though she would have been okay with it. The whole song ‘Zaraa Zaraa’ plays out as something that he wants to happen but because he knows he has lied to her. He’s spending time with her as a false identity. So, even something that is wrong, he is liked because he doesn’t cross the line. That is also relatable.”

Patience and passion to write a love story!
Veteran producer Mukesh Bhatt, who is known to produce a variety of popular love-stories like ‘Aashiqui‘, believes that love stories are made with all heart and a lot of passion. It’s rare to find that today. He said, “Love stories have to come from a heart. You cannot do a professional job when you write a love story. Today, writers who have their heart in the right place to pen a love story, are becoming like white tigers in the jungle. It’s more tiring and exhausting to write a love story than a thriller. People today have quick fixes and and that doesn’t work.”

Vishesh Bhatt echoes this sentiment and adds, “I started my journey with movies at a young age, in a ‘just-out-of-school’ phase in a film called ‘Raaz’. That film being a supernatural film had outstanding music. From there my first film as a co-producer was ‘Gangster’. It was such an intense love story which was beautifully made. The music and story resonated in a big way. I think that primarily, even the first film I had written, which was ‘Jannat’, it was on the backdrop of cricket but the music resonated with people. These films were made with a lot of passion and time, they were not quick fix movies. Good evergreen stories need time and effort. It’s not very to come up with movies which end up becoming cult classics. Even in the west, it takes time for a ‘Titanic’ to come. There has to be a strong relationship of the two characters, not just a love interest.”

Dearth of good music which is a key essential to a love story
Mukesh Bhatt can’t stress enough on the importance of good music for a love story. He opines, “A romantic film without good music just doesn’t work. If you look back at the history of Indian cinema, all those love stories had extra-ordinary music to become blockbusters – whether it was ‘Bobby’ or ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ or ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ or ‘Aashiqui’. Not many talented to take on good music, but I’m gifted by God’s grace. I’ve done about 70 movies and some may not have worked but the music of all of them has been spectacular. The music of Vishesh Films has the blood stain of Mukesh Bhatt’s fashion of music.”
Dia further adds, “Music transforms you to another place. I think it makes a huge difference. I’m amazed to see that the younger people who are exposed to all kinds of cinemas today, in the urban centres are going and watching films like ‘Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein’ as they are re-releasing.”
Vishesh says that music is the common factor in love stories which are loved over the years. “What’s common in movies like ‘DDLJ’ or ‘RHTDM’, people are going mad because people resonated with the songs of both these movies. People remember ‘Tujhe Dekha toh yeh Jaana sanam’, ‘RHTDM’ has that ‘Zaraa Zaraa’,” he expresses.

Good quality content irrespective of the genre
Sajid Ali feels that it’s not about a love story or any genre, but a film made with a good intent and passion will always find an audience. “As long as you do good quality work, no matter the genre, you will find takers. There are so many people with so many varied interests and tastes. India itself is a huge market and even a small percent of that becomes your goal market. There is a market for all kinds of films – big, small, mega budget and small stories with almost faceless people. You should just know the film you’re making and what kind of audience are you targetting. As long as you give quality, you will find the audience,” he says.
He further adds, “I never think of the target audience. Whatever story is coming to naturally or whatever interests me. I write, experience it for myself and if there’s worth, people will also see what I’m saying.”
A great film needs to have a love story
Mukesh Bhatt beautifully concludes this as he says, “You can make a blockbuster film but if you want to make a great film, it has to have a love story. You cannot make a great film without a love story.”