Vicky Kaushal opens up about Bollywood box office flops
Actor Vicky Kaushal has opened up about the reason behind Bollywood films failing at the box office in a recent interview with The Indian Express. He also spoke about what the viewers want in films these days. The actor has had one release this year—Govinda Naam Mera on Disney+ Hotstar co-starring Kiara Advani and Bhumi Pednekar—which was a typical Hindi masala commercial film.
Why does this story matter?
- In the post-pandemic era, Bollywood as an industry hasn't been able to produce moneyspinners.
- Some films like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Brahmastra: Part One—Shiva, and Drishyam 2 emerged successful but mass entertainers—including Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chaddha and Akshay Kumar's Samrat Prithviraj and Raksha Bandhan—haven't been able to crack the BO code.
- Meanwhile, comparatively smaller industries are producing films like Kantara which received pan-Indian attention.
Kaushal's take on viewers' wants
Kaushal told The Indian Express that the viewers today exactly know what they like and want to watch good films, adding the genre, actor, or language doesn't matter anymore. The Uri actor said, "I think good films are working. People, in fact, have made it very simple. If you see the graph, they've made it so simple, that if the film resonates with them."
Previous marketing plans not working in B'wood
Kaushal also spoke about the biggest hits of the year and explained how the previous strategies for marketing a film do not work today. He said, "You see a Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2), KGF (2) or RRR, Drishyam (2), none of them fall in the same box, they're neither the same language, genre nor the scale, they didn't even have the same marketing plan (sic)."
Reason behind why Kaushal did 'Govinda Naam Mera'
Asked about his latest release Govinda Naam Mera, which is different from previous films, Kaushal said he wanted to do a typical Hindi masala film. He said he wanted a break from serious roles and added, "As an actor, even I was hungry to explore that side and have fun on set." Kaushal said that he wanted to make people laugh with this film.
Actor excited about upcoming releases
Kaushal further expressed excitement about his future projects and said he is looking forward to 2023 as he will have four releases next year. Recently, a teaser of Meghana Gulzar's Sam Bahadur was unveiled. He is doing a film with Yash Raj Films and a Anand Tiwari directorial with Dharma Productions. He also has Laxman Utekar's next co-starring Sara Ali Khan in the pipeline.
