BOLLYWOOD IS READY WITH ITS SUPER ARMY
With Deepika Padukone reportedly signing a superhero film, Bollywood seems to be getting serious about its superhero projects
Superhero films are a rarity in India. There’s s just one hero, who has found unanimous acceptance among people: Krrish, played by Hrithik Roshan. While Anil Kapoor played a simpleton, who get t the power to be invisible wi the help of a special watch i Mr. India in 1987, we didn’t have any big superhero film after that, until Krrish in 2006.
Bollywood did try to make a number of superhero films such as Abhishek Bachchanstarrer Drona (2008), Shah Rukh Khan’s ambitious project, Ra. One (2011), and Tiger Shroff’s A Flying Jatt (2016), all of which had a great buzz before release, but they ultimately failed to perform as per expectations.
BOLLYWOOD TAKES NOTICE
It seems that finally, Bollywood is ready with its superhero army, as there seems to be a sudden influx of superhero films. Ranbir Kapoor is reportedly playing a superboy in Brahmastra, while the latest reports suggest that Deepika Padukone has given the green light to a film in which she plays a superhero. Harshvardhan Kapoor, meanwhile, will be seen in the upcoming vigilantedrama, Bhavesh Joshi. Also on the cards is the RajinikanthAkshay Kumar starrer 2.0.
Trade expert Atul Mohan says, “The style of storytelling in Bollywood is changing. Indian film-makers have the opportunity to score on this front now with films such as Black Panther doing well.”
Avengers: Infinityfiy War has grossed ₹200 crores at the Indian box office, making it the highest performer in the genre. “Marvel (the film company responsible for Avengers and Black Panther) had a big foundation of comic books, and those movies are believable because most of the audiences were aware of the characters through the comic books,” says director Rakesh Roshan, theh mindn behind Krrish.
THE WESTERN EFFECT
Trade expert Komal Nahta agrees that this interest is due to the massive success of superhero films from the West. “This industry has always been like that. If one genre picks up, people run towards that. When Ra.One didn’t work, people developed cold feet, but now with the success of Avengers and the likes, people are willing to make such films again. Every genre needs that one big hit.”
COMIC BOOK CULTURE
Anubhav Sinha, director of Ra. One, explains why superhero films are working now. He explains, “These films are highly entertaining. It’s tough to make audiences go out to watch a film nowadays, unless there’s a good enough reason, and superhero films are a good enough reason.”
He also believes that it’s time we have a proper Indian superhero. “India doesn’t have the comic book culture. There are few comic book characters, but our exposure to the concept of superheroes has been only through Hollywood. Krrish, despite the fact that we call him by that name, is conceptually a Western superhero. I am hoping Brahmastra will give us a new Indian superhero.”
The preferred format for such films is 3D, and that is one of the primary reasons for such films enjoying patronage from the younger audiences.