Stars Not Bringing Numbers, Writers Are!

In a recent interview, Bollywood’s former star heroine Kareena Kapoor made an interesting observation. She said that if stars are not bringing numbers to the box office, then the focus should shift towards writers and fresh ideas. That statement is now triggering a discussion in Bollywood, because at the present time, bigger stars like Salman Khan, Amir Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Ajay Devgan have failed miserably at the box office with their commercial adventures, and with most of them, Kareena acted as a heroine.

Here’s something to notice. In the last couple of years, many big Bollywood films with top stars have failed, while content-driven films are finding acceptance. Films like Kantara and Dhurandhar worked mainly because of writing, while several star-led projects struggled to sustain beyond the opening weekend. So naturally, the question is simple. Are stars losing their pull, or are audiences simply choosing better stories? Definitely the second one, because the audience got updates after the OTT era, and that’s what filmmakers should notice first.

If you look at it closely, even though Dhurandhar created a strong impact, many in Bollywood have not openly acknowledged it. Interestingly, several top stars have not even reacted to Dhurandhar 1 or The Revenge. At the same time, we cannot ignore that star power still helps in getting openings and a wide reach. In the end, Kareena’s statement reflects a shift that is already visible, but how far Bollywood stars will realise that and open their eyes is the big thing to be seen.