First time unlucky

The first half of 2019 has been a mixed bag in Bollywood which saw surprise hits in Uri and Kabir Singh while many big banners failed the box-office test, despite being backed by A-list production houses. It also saw a bunch of newcomers debuting in Bollywood. And despite strong marketing and strategic promotions, some failed to get the cash registers ringing for their films.  Those include Ananya Pandey and Tara Sutaria whose début film Student Of The Year 2 didn’t do well at the box office. Similarly, the year also witnessed Javed Jaffrey’s son Meezaan being launched opposite Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s niece Sharmin Segal in Malaal. Despite the ace director’s production house promoting the film and the newcomers, it failed to do well. While Salman Khan might have garnered a good fan following for himself and his films, his success didn’t guarantee a safe landing for his protégés. Pranutan Bahl, granddaughter of the late renowned actress Nutan, and Zaheer Iqbal, Salman’s childhood friend’s son, were launched in Notebook and in spite of the film getting good reviews, the film failed to interest the audience. Even the Sunny Deol-backed thriller Blank, starring Dimple Kapadia’s nephew Karan, drew blank at the box office.

Talent vs content
Every year, hundreds of films make it to the screen but only a few newcomers actually get the recognition. While some do manage to garner interest, courtesy their famous parents, they fail to bring the audience to the cinema halls. Trade analyst Rajesh Vasani explains that talent is just as important as the big banners. “It is not necessary that every newcomer, with some star producer or director’s backing, would work well, merely because he has a brand name. They should also have equal talent,” explains the analyst.

In the last few years, Salman Khan has launched careers of many Bollywood stars but the last few — namely Sooraj Pancholi-Athiya Shetty in Hero, Ayush Sharma in Loveyatri and now Parnutan and Zahir in Notebook— have failed to set the Box-office ringing. Filmmaker Fauzia Arshi adds that just because big names and famous families are supporting the newcomer, it does not translate to their success. She says that though these actors are associated with big banners, good content was missing in their films. “Nepotism prevails in the industry. These actors get industry backing, but that doesn’t mean they have talent as well. Ultimately, it is the talent and content that always works. People want to see what they have not thought of,” she says.

Film critic Mayank Shekhar agrees that getting backed by big banners and producers is not enough to make any film a hit, though he agrees that they also need star directors or producers. Student of the Year worked despite having newcomers because it was directed by Karan Johar. “If these debutantes are directed by Karan Johar, SLB or Rohit Shetty, then the film will have a chance to be successful. In these films, they have been backed by the banners but nothing else,” explains Mayank, adding that people will not go and watch a film because Salman Khan’s name is mentioned on the poster. “Audiences would come to watch a film because of the filmmaker, not because of the new faces. It is hard to garner audiences on face value unless you make a film purely on a concept,” explains the critic.

Meanwhile, film critic Murtaza Ali Khan believes that making a film successful is not dependent on face value or the actors’ backgrounds anymore, there is a need for a strong concept. “Audiences have evolved in many ways. Good stories and concepts have great importance,” says Murtaza, who observes that there was a time when these big banners were able to pull the audiences to cinemas, but this is the time when the audience is wooed by realistic stories. “Gone are the days when people would enjoy Karan Johar or Yash Raj style of film making. Today, people want something that they relate to rather than someone else’s life living in abroad,” he shares.

Backed by stars
While bringing new talent to the screen is pivotal to the industry, it is also to be noted that actors like Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, Sonakshi Sinha, Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, and most recently Sanya Malhotra and Zaira Wasim, were launched with established actors. While Deepika entered the limelight opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanti Om, Anushka too made her debut with Shah Rukh Khan in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Sonakshi Sinha was launched opposite Salman Khan in Dabangg and Sanya and Zaira starred with Aamir Khan in Dangal. This begs the question of whether launching a new face with an established actor is a good idea, rather than all-new faces for the first time.

“The blend of established actors and newcomers is a safe deal. Any film works on the basis of its first teaser and trailer,” says Rajesh. Mayank backs this opinion, saying that the big face in the film will surely pull the audience to the cinema halls. “Even if the big star is not dominating the film, and the other person is a new face, the audience will come and watch the film because it is a star-driven film. This element should be there, to begin with,” suggests the critic. Fauzia too supports the idea of launching a newcomer with an established actor, so that the producer can recover the cost of the filmmaking. “Either the newcomer should be padded by some known actor, or they should make a small budget film with a good conviction,” says the filmmaker.

On the other hand, Murtaza points out that there is no strategy to launch a newcomer. Instead, there is a flood of all new faces. “Every month we see one new face launched. When Hrithik Roshan was launched in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, it was only him in the entire phase. Now it’s like every movie has a new face of someone’s child. It is too much. If they want to launch a newcomer they should plan, it can’t be just accessed,” he rues in conclusion.