Bollywood is struggling for at least one blockbuster whereas the Southern industry is dominating the entertainment industry in India by delivering back-to-back hits like Pushpa: The Rise, KGF 2, and RRR. Such has been the massive impact of these South Indian flicks on the Indian audience that they simply turned back on regular Bollywood masala movies. Big stars like Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn could not hold the rampage of these movies with Bachchan Pandey and Runway 34 respectively.
Even stars like Shahid Kapoor and Tiger Shroff delivered duds as their recent releases Jersey and Heropanti 2 respectively crashed at the box office. The only movie that worked well amid all these Southern hits was Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files and even it cannot be called as entirely a Bollywood movie because none of the so-called megastars from B-town were a part of it or came forward to appreciate it.
This month will see the release of three big movies from Bollywood - Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 led by Kartik Aaryan, Tabu, and Kiara Advani, Anek starring Ayushmann Khurrana in lead, and Kangana Ranaut’s Dhaakad.
All these stars are outsiders with no godfather in the film industry. Rather both Kartik and Ayushmann have been shown the doors by the so-called messiah of star kids in the industry- Karan Johar. Kangana’s feud with the Dharma boss is a well-known thing.
And surprisingly, now it is up to these three outsiders who are big stars in their own right to save the pride of Bollywood. The title song of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is out and has already become highly popular. Kangana Ranaut’s fiery avatar in Dhaakad trailer has made even her foes appreciate her looks and approach. Ayushmann is known to create wonders in a simple role. But Anek is an altogether different movie and a story through which its director Anubhav Sinha wants the Indians to think about their identity as Indians.
During this crisis, if either of these three does well at the box office, it will be a huge leap for that actor/actress career-wise as Bollywood is currently confused and wants to know what it can do to bring back audience to the theater.