Hollywood Studios Wary of Big-Budget Cinema?

Is the Bollywood model finally seeing its dead end?

Story has it, Hollywood mega companies have had their share of big Bollywood cinemas. The audience is now making their way into regional movies and good digital content. Should this be an eye-opener for the controversial industry thriving on godfathers and nepotism?

Hollywood studios bases of Disney, Sony, and Viacom18 have driven down the line to look for some real works of art in the industry- an element often missing in the Bollywood big-budget films. Art in regional cinemas and short films have long been understated, and not every must-watch has made it to the big-screen. There have been actors that Indian cinema still remembers, those of the 80s-90s, who made a strong hold on their grounds of profession.

Are we looking at the right side of the picture?

There are chances that Walt Disney might slow down on its Indian film production after it acquired Star India, Fox Star Studio, and Hotstar in 2018. Major reasons include local co-producers of movies in the Bollywood business models, and lead actors who take away almost 60% of the total production budget. Sony and Viacom18 too are doubtful of promoting big-screen Bollywood films exclusively.

International studios scaling down on big Indian production houses comes with both pros and cons. With a revival for the real talents in all forms of art and expression with the increasing convergence of big studios toward them, it has been a major setback for the big-budget cinema which contributed to an important amount in the Indian economy. Are we looking are the right side of the picture? Are we risking another major overhaul of the economy which still plays in the negative arena?

Most of these studios point to the success stories of Netflix and Amazon which have limited the influx of under-rated Bollywood big-screen cinema. Whether we should be thinking about fixing the economy or promote real art is the question of the hour. The successes of these big studios are a significant asset to many merger studios like Star India. Are they going to cope up with the new challenge? If yes, how that turns out is yet to be seen.