Actors ditch urban-centric films for mass-market genres after Covid | Mint

Actors primarily known for upmarket, slice-of-life urban-centric films are making a clear shift towards mass-market genres to appeal to a broader audience base as the movie business struggles to reclaim its pre-covid glory.  

While Rajkummar Rao will be seen in a gangster role in Maalik, slated for release in July, Ayushmann Khurrana will feature in horror comedy Thama, a genre that is the flavour of the season after successes like Stree 2 and Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Both the actors are known for small-town comedies and films with social messaging such as Bala, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Srikanth and Badhaai Do. 

Trade experts say the actors have realised post-covid that there is a need to improve footfalls in single screen cinemas and small towns and reach out to wider audiences as multiplex viewers are over-saturated with entertainment options, particularly those on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and ZEE5.

“There is a realisation among younger actors that they really need to work towards attracting footfalls in single screen cinemas, which is why so many of them are now gravitating towards massy directors or subjects,” film producer Shariq Patel said. 

Not as heroic

The younger generation of actors has, so far, not really managed to do the kind of ‘heroic’ or larger-than-life roles that lead stars in the 1990s did, a void that has been filled by southern stars with commercial entertainers, he added. Many of the Hindi actors made their debut in the 2010s playing mostly boy-next-door roles when slice-of-life comedies and urban films had begun to make money thanks to a growing multiplex base. 

“On the other hand, if you see southern stars like Yash (in KGF) or Allu Arjun (in Pushpa), they are all fighting the system and telling rags-to-riches kind of tales that work well,” Patel pointed out.

Some entertainment industry experts also point out that it is always interesting for actors to keep exploring new roles, as it is more satisfying from a creative point of view and allows the audience to witness a wider range of their talent. 

“Sometimes, such choices are driven by box-office performance, but in most cases, actors take them up to expand their audience base and for creative fulfilment. A new avatar often generates curiosity and becomes a talking point. Once the look or the freshness of the genre starts trending, it adds to the buzz and contributes to a stronger opening for the film,” Vipul Shah – chairman and managing director, Sunshine Pictures Ltd, a film and OTT production house, said.

Learning from failures

To be sure, actors such as Rao and Khurrana, among others, are also learning from their past failures. Both have seen niche, experimental films like Bheed ( ₹2.03 crore), An Action Hero ( ₹10.89 crore), HIT- The First Case ( ₹9.29 crore) and Anek ( ₹8.15 crore), all released post-covid, underperform at the box office. While Rao’s recent horror comedy Stree 2 did cross the ₹600-crore mark, trade experts say it has more to do with the genre, proof that actors should target subjects that speak to wider, and not segmented audiences.

“Post covid-19, serious stocktaking has become imperative in the industry as audience tastes have evolved due to extensive exposure to international content. Makers are now steering clear of formulaic films because they no longer work. What works are nuanced human stories that are universal and yet rooted in local culture,” film producer Anand Pandit said.