Hollywood Recedes(For Now) As Bollywood Booms

What a spectacular year  this is  for Hindi cinema!  Starting  with Padmaavat  on  January 25, success after success has spilt   out of  the  turnstiles making this the most prosperous  year for Bollywood  in  many years.

After  Padmaavat the  list of  superhits/hits/earners is  impressive to say the least.

Now with Yash Raj Films’ Sui Dhaga showing every sign  of  becoming  yet another  winner in a year clogged with triumps,Bollywood producers are looking  with heightened  hope at the rest  of  the year.

This week Sriram Raghavan’s  cocky Hitcockian thriller Andha Dhun and Salman Khan’s home production LoveYatri(introducing his  brother-in-law Ayush Sharma)  vie for  eyeballs  with Hollywood’s gargantuan superhero thriller Venom.

And for once there is no fear of  competition  in  Bollywood from Hollywood.

The eagerly awaited  Venom is  already getting scathing reviews  with critics  dubbing it , “a trainwreck  of  a movie” and  a  “massive mess.” Clearly Venom is  poised to collapse with a  shattering thud whereas Sriram Raghavan’s Andha Dhun is already being called  the  best film of the year.

That’s what  we all said earlier this year when we saw Shoojit Sircar’s October and Sharat Kataria’s  Sui Dhaga.

So who’s afraid  of  Hollywood?At the moment,no one, actually.

“Give the audience a  solid plot and  an engaging film, and they don’t care a damn where the  film comes  from,” saysRaghavan.

Producer Pahlaj Nihlani who is  planning to release  his Govinda starrer Rangeela Raja very shortly wonders why Hollywood cinema  is made  into such an intimidating entity. “If we give  the audience  a good film,  no Hollywood film can come in  the way, And how many Hollywood films have really made big profits in India except Black Panther and  Avengers Infinity War? The really good Hollywood films don’t do well in India.”

Nihlani has a point. This week’s highly-rated remake of  the  1953 classic  A  Star Is Born featuring Bradley Cooper  and Lady Gaga is flying over India.

 Reason?

“Hollywood musicals  don’t do well in  India. Even La La  Land and Mama Mia bombed,” says an unofficial  source   . However  A Star Is Born  will release  in India on October 12 a  week after its American /British release , because  there is less competition from Bollywood next week.

This week Andha Dhun is  a film Indian audiences  want to see because the critics  say so. And Love  Ratri because…well,Bhai(Salman Khan) says  so.