[Written by : Yash V Mohta]
Due to the covid-19 pandemic across the world, many industries had to go through gigantic losses and Bollywood industry is one of them.
The Indian film industry is the world’s largest in terms of the number of films produced. The Indian film industry consists of Tamil (Kollywood), Telugu and Bengali(Tollywood) and Hindi (Bollywood).
The industry has been on the decline since India’s first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Major film productions had been shelved or indefinitely postponed, while thousands of cinemas had shut down, prompting job losses across the country.
There are only three Hindi films featured in the top 10 Indian films in the last two and half years, the remaining 7 spots are occupied by four Telugu films, two Tamil films, and Spiderman No Way Home.
There was a time when a fresh movie appeared at the box office every Friday. ‘Fresh’ in terms of story, music, script & characters. To become ‘Brand Bollywood’, this freshness took years to appeal to a global audience. The Brand Bollywood has a gigantic market size of 183 billion INR (Statista) in terms of value in 2021.
Experts, however, believe Bollywood’s hegemony is eroding. According to Ormax Media Report, 2020–2021 which looks at Indian Box Office across different languages, the cumulative revenue for 2020 & 2021 stood at only Rs 5,757 crores which are almost half of 2019’s revenue. In addition, viewers of Bollywood films are experiencing more unique content from South Indian cinema.
It is true that pandemic has contributed to the decline, but there are other factors as well.
Indian cinema is composed of many languages but Bollywood is the most popular industry in it. For that, we must understand how Brand Bollywood has become what it is today →
Pre — 50s -80s
The creation of Bollywood dates back to 1913 when the first film Raja Harishchandra, directed by Dada Saheb Phalke was released. The Indians were inspired by the West and created Bollywood, which is actually a combination of Bombay and Hollywood. Movies like Mother India and Mughal-e-Azam in the 60s touched audiences’ hearts. Not only stories & scripts but music and voices of RD Burman, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar & Mohd. Rafi captured the imagination of the entire nation in their songs. 70s and 80s Bollywood movies slowly got shifted towards the western world. ‘Gandhi’ a movie released in 1983 also grabbed Best Costume Design at Oscars. This was also the era where Bollywood started involved with the underworld.
90s & 2000s
Brand Bollywood rose to prominence in the 90s & 2000s when a new potential market of students was explored by directors. It can be co-related to the fact that the population of Indians was largely in the 20–50s bracket at that time.Brands saw India as a huge emerging market and started betting on two things: Bollywood & Cricket. A large chunk of the Indian population started buying TVs which helped brands to distribute content on television through advertisements. Among the actors of this era, Shahrukh Khan, Ajay Devgn, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Aamir Khan still hold the hearts of Indian audiences today.
Why is Brand Bollywood failing in the 2010s & 20s?
- Average Quality Content — Bollywood has struggled to produce quality content consistently over the past few years. The same can be discerned from movies like Pushpa & Darbar. Similarly, Hollywood offers more value to Indian audiences’ eyes & ears thanks to its unique content. Sadly, the Khans are also not able to deliver the same to their fans. Additionally, producers and directors can be blamed for spending more money on actors than stories and scripts.
2. Prevalent Nepotism — Much like politics, Bollywood tends to pass the baton to its children. Among examples is David Dhawan’s incredible support for his son, Karan Johar providing a platform for star kids. Even though this may seem okay, it hinders the entry of another fresh talent into this industry. Sushant Singh Rajput’s death strengthens this argument.
3. Drug scandals — Several actresses, including Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan & Shraddha Kapoor, were caught up in drug abuse cases. Any such action directly lowers the brand value of Bollywood.
