Dhurandhar Gave The Lift, Will Glamour Save It Now?

Dhurandhar 2’s success is colossal, which gave Bollywood a huge boost. But the films that came after, including the likes of Raja Shivaji, have bitten the dust badly. For a brief moment, Bhoot Bangla gave Bollywood some much-needed oxygen. Trade circles finally felt the industry may be slowly recovering after months of disasters and empty theatres, while Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar 2 were seen as one-stop lifting. But that relief didn’t last long.

Last week’s releases, like Akhri Sawal starring Sanjay Dutt, crashed badly, while Pati Patni Aur Woh Do featuring Ayushmann Khurrana also failed to create any impact at the box office. Despite having the glamorous punch by actresses like Sara Ali Khan, Wamiqa Gabbi, and Rakul Preet Singh, Pati Patni 2 hasn’t even convinced the audience big time. So far, that film has collected only ₹34 crores gross, indicating that it might not recover even 30% investment made on the movie.

Now, Bollywood’s next big hopes are landing from a completely different route, the glamour. Films like Varun Dhawan’s Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai and Shahid Kapoor’s Cocktail 2 are already trending heavily online. They are releasing on June 4th and June 19th, respectively. Interestingly, the buzz is not exactly around story or performances. It is the songs, chemistry and glamorous visuals dominating social media.

Whether it is Pooja Hegde, Mrunal Thakur, Kriti Sanon or Rashmika Mandanna, the current conversation revolves around their glamorous screen presence more than anything else. From Pooja’s crystal-bralette to Kriti’s bikini treat, currently, those pictures are going viral. But the bigger question is this: can glamour alone save films?

While the Songs are exploding on YouTube, Reels are flooding Instagram and Glamour shots are going viral every single day, it needs to be seen if that translates into box office success. After a Dhurandhar-like urban realism and “content cinema,” the industry is slowly returning to colourful entertainers, glamorous songs and visually attractive packaging again. We have to see if they will live up to the mark.