[anjan_c2007]

The stodgy Bollywood business model needs a course correction before it becomes unsustainable. The film maker's role is coming under increasing pressure, more so for the smaller producers. The entire film crew has become too much hero-centric, with many facets of film-making being "guided" by the hero. Gone are the decades when the film director would be the central figure. If the hero has more say than any other person on the sets, we can surely predict doom times ahead. Today, every hero aspires to have a huge fleet of super luxury cars, mansions and wealth to outdo all his peers. The fees charged by film heroes are exorbitant and forms a huge percentage of the film's budget.

The outlook for future of our Bollywood film music scenario is also grim going by the way it is growing if at all these days. Crap cover versions, copying of old and not so old tunes have become rampant. Several films had become hits due to the catchy songs that audiences swayed to. Seeing such movies on the big screen would be entertainment to the hilt and a must for crores of movie buffs. During Raj Kapoor's times, the songs of films under his RK film banner would be released many months prior to the movie release. These would scale the popularity charts (Binaca Geetmala aired 16 chart toppers every Wednesday evening) and simply grow on the audiences, who would later be attracted to the cinema halls.

Bollywood had successfully beaten the era of VCR's and illegal video cassettes that were in vogue since the early 1980's. The VCR initially started this era of home viewing. Then came the era of the late 1990's with swarms of illegal and pirated CD's that soon again became life threatening for Bollywood. But during these two major jolts, quality movies continued to be made by illustrious film directors, with able heroes, heroines and the cast and with music by talented music directors. And we had multiplexes mushrooming after the turn of the millennium that again attracted the movie goers.

After the present threat of OTT platforms, coming too soon after the crippling blow the pandemic gave to movie theatres, it is likely that the OTT platforms would cause a progressive decay and ultimate downfall of cinema hall movie viewing.

The recipe offered by new movies needs to vastly improve to draw audiences back to cinema halls. The film's storyline, music and film cast need to have capable artistes at the helm. They all need to be backed up and steered by a competent Director who is in full control, sans any baggage from moneybags or heroes. Such changes for the better could however usher in a new sunrise for Bollywood. Or else, the causes of mass extinction of dinosaurs are well known and history could repeat.

[Durango Dude]

I just saw Top Gun Maverick on Amazon for a Rs 119, at home. You can't get popcorn for that price let alone movie tickets. Some days, I feel I "need" to watch something to unwind and sleep. Those days are few and far between. Going to theatres is becoming an expensive affair and there's no assurance that you'll get your money's worth after all that hassle of getting there. I pick and choose movies that I watch on OTT and in theatres. Covid has literally spoiled us and made OTT's the way to watch movies or serials. I should thank my stars that just before Covid happened I got two internet connections so that even if one conks of, I can use the other, and also got the Firestick just pre-Covid: two best decisions I had made in retrospect. The 55" inch TV and home theater literally was lying unused till Covid struck and now that's the mainstay.

[IamNikhil]

To begin with: God bless OTT!

Before the advent of Covid, never realised the folly of spending on multiplex tickets every other weekend for movies which more often than not turned out to be a damp squib.

The top 3 OTT platforms: Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ Hotstar amongst the 3 of them have an ensemble collection of content around the world, which can be consumed at one's free will and within the comfortable confines of one's own house. Also, these 3 OTTs combined cost the pocket a fraction of the expense which one would have otherwise incurred at a multiplex. Almost all movies, as a rule, rather than an exception, arrive on an OTT platform within a few weeks of release and that in itself is a harbinger of times to come.

The last movie I watched in a multiplex was Top Gun Maverick, that too, solely for the cinematic experience. I was happy to spend that kind of money purely for the experience of watching this on the big screen and the IMAX effects; something which my 65" TV and home theatre system cannot possibly recreate in my living room.

We even discontinued our erstwhile Tata Sky connection in 2020 and now even my parents have become extremely comfortable with the various OTT platforms that we subscribe to. Though, we would occassionally like to step out of the house and go to a movie theatre once in a while, it will definitely only be in the rarest of rare instances - the last movie we watched as en entire family in PVR was 83.

With multiplex ticket prices soaring skyhigh, it is an absolutely ridiculous expense in my opinion. The theatre operators might cry hoarse over business dipping because of OTT, but they would do well to introspect and wonder what they themselves ought to have done to retain the audiences in the first place. The middle class population, which forms a large chunk of the audience finds it virtually impossible to afford the kind of money these multiplexes charge on tickets. Also, with BookMyShow and PayTM, you'd find that the taxes and surcharges in themselves sometimes cost the equivalent of 1 ticket!

[Jeroen]

Actually, I have always liked to go to the cinema. We frequently went to the cinema in Delhi too. Also, when travelling on business I find it makes for a more enjoyable evening than spending the night in your hotel room behind your laptop.

Here in the Netherlands cinema visits are on the rise again and are close to pre-COVID levels and are expected to rise steadily.

Typical price for one movie is about the same as the monthly fee for Netflix. The new movie theatre are very attractive. Excellent seating. These days they can be found on the edges of major towns too. We can be in the nearest movie theatre within twenty minutes, free parking right in front of it.

Mind you, we have not been to a cinema for the last three years due to COVID. But we will start going soon. We hope to be able to return to a family tradition of taking the whole family and partners out for a movie matinee on Boxing Day!

I rarely watch movies on our television. I just don’t have the patience and the commercials are such a nuisance. But I love seeing certain movies on the big screen, sounderroundsound, popcorn and a drink at hand! Can’t beat that at home on our otherwise excellent sofa

Jeroen

[mayukh42]

Personally I was never a movie buff after leaving college, but in this thread I would like to separate out "Bollywood" and "Theatres" which are both staring at the abyss for two completely independent reasons:

1. Bollywood (both big screen and OTT): quality of content

a. Not meeting expectations

While bad movies always existed, there is no denying that advent of internet and access to the original movies/ songs/ dances from which Bollywood just copied without giving due credit most of the time assuming that their audience would not find out - only contributed to raising the expectations of the audience which Bollywood did not care to address.

b. Lack of innovation

Bollywood is almost finished when it comes to this. When is the last time you found a good song that made you sing it (and it wasn't a remix)? When was the last time you were taken aback by the movie's climax and did not predict it correctly? And the cinematography is not good enough to warrant watching it on big screens.

Was watching parts of Shaan (1980) on Youtube yesterday. The iconic kidnapping of Sunil Dutt is still far more innovative. Of course, it may have been copied, which is why by itself it won't be enough today.

c. Sermons and social discrimination

When I am watching a movie or OTT show, the last thing I need is Bollywood teaching me how to live in harmony in the society (as if I don't). Also, I dont want the biggest entertainer of India to stereotype people based on their ethnical origin, like from South or Punjab. It is not funny anymore after 40 years.

2. Theatres - costly and time consuming

As one BHPian has mentioned above, 1k/ person and 2 hours of traffic jam are really not my idea of entertainment, on top of the risk that I may not like the movie and won't want to exit midway, since I paid for it. On OTT, it is just a home button and few clicks away to my favorite youtube channels, if nothing else works.

--------

OTT ain't all rosy. I liked Mirzapur's both seasons except S1 E8 (which questioned my dedication to that season). I stopped watching Sacred Games S2 E2 onwards (story was pretty predictable, and I was bored, and Anurag Kashyap's all content seems to extend from Gangs of Wasseypur - same formula and no innovation). Patal Lok, again, same old same old.

I liked Panchayat. I consider that to be an innovation which some of the major production houses neglect. You don't need big budget to tell a story. Like in movies - Phas Gaye Re Obama was so good, I still would prefer to watch it nth time rather than waste 2 hours with Shamshera. Forget about Hrishikesh Mukherjee, even a David Dhawan/ Govinda combo or Priyadarshan comedy gives me good return of time invested, perhaps because they don't pretend to be serious, so they always over-deliver.

Bollywood (which is still very much involved in OTT - Mirzapur e.g. is Excel Entertainment) is still far, far away from creating shows like LOST, Wire, Breaking Bad, Narcos. Not because of budget, but because It cannot think beyond the same formula.

[amvj]

I have not gone to the theatre for the last 20 yrs but then I don't watch any movies as well. I am not very religious / orthodox.

YouTube, Team-bhp, trips, vehicle cleaning detailing makes me entertained.

[ajayc123]

I am just curios about the impact of OTT on the traditional csble subscriptions like Tata Sky. I am wondering if guys here are still continuing to use the cable TV or have some folks started to discontinue the cable.

[sandeepmdas]

The let-us-go-for-a-movie thing would have been long gone; it was kept in life-support by the BookMyShow app. What we now see is the inevitable.

Movies and movie houses are for entertainment. Unfortunately one needs to pass through several hurdles like traffic, dearth of parking space, unruly crowds, arrogant staff, ripoff pricing before he gets entertained. Throw in the factor of bad movies and you can write a requiem for your once-fav movie house. The app rectified only one hurdle. Its makers can't change the "Indian conditions", let's thank them for making an effort.

Serious movie buffs (I'm an avid Hollywood fan) are irritated by mobile phone users and whatsapp chatters inside the house. The last Hollywood movie I saw in theater was the Joker . I was amused to see a guy playing games in his handset during the showtime. 95% of the audience was youngsters. I received some strange looks when I walked in. I was 51 only at that time and I was equally perplexed. Realized one possible reason sometime later: the rearmost row was occupied by many lovebirds, and at least some of them thought that I was there to catch a son or daughter/niece red-handed enjoying an unscheduled outing.

I bought a 1080P Epson projector and a Yamaha soundbar with subwoofer after this outing. Found a combo of Netflix, Mubi, Disney HS and the ubiquitous Amazon Prime means I have no time to visit even TBHP so scaled down my subscriptions. Now I have a 3TB FTTH connection from BSNL dedicated for my home theater, less than 1K per month.

Someone then told me I can get Optoma/Benq 4K HDR projectors in Dubai for 1/3 of the cost in Kerala. Hurriedly put up a project report to upgrade the current frugal setup to a propah Dolby Atmos HT. Mercilessly rejected by the home department. The report is now pending with my 16 year old son for review and appeal. Dude's an avid movie buff but he and ALL of his friends simply hate visiting movie houses. So there's hope for me, thank God. And with today's youngsters watching movies in handsets with Atmos, the writing on the screen is in 8K HDR for the theater business.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

I am just curios about the impact of OTT on the traditional csble subscriptions like Tata Sky. I am wondering if guys here are still continuing to use the cable TV or have some folks started to discontinue the cable.

I can’t really comment on what is happening in India. But in the west many people don’t have a regular Tv subscription anymore. My eldest son is 35 and he hasn’t had a regular TV subscription ever! All OTT.

In Western Europe we still have both public and commercial TV. You join any cable operator and you tend to get about 50-100 regular public and commercial Tv stations. Language can be a bit of an issue. The Netherlands and Belgium subtitle, but for instance in France and Germany they dub. I have about ten French and German stations on my cable all dubbed. But I can watch about 40-50 Dutch, Belgium, Uk and US channels in Dutch/English.

I can choose every evening, from at least 10-15 main stream movies and even more series across these channels. But of course, it is still not much compared to HBO, Netflix or any of the others.

I am a bit of an old git these days. I do believe in having a proper public broadcasting system next to a commercial one. So I will happily pay for that. Mind you, we did away with TV licensing many years ago. Unlike the UK where you still need to pay for your TV license, irrespective of what you watch (public or commercial) or how much you watch. A dying system if you ask me, it’s just that they can’t abolish it overnight as it would kill the BBC. Or at least all the managerial types would be without job. I am sure the actors and creative types would find work otherwise.

Even in the USA there is some public TV. When we lived in Kansas City there were a few public stations. They all featured BBC and ITV old comedies and sitcoms. Loved it, so we became sponsors.

Personally, I think that these “regular” TV providers are trying to survive by bundling some of the OTT players. My cable provider provides apps and access to all OTT players as well as offering the many regular TV channels. But you can get the OTT players without a Tv subscription too. I think many people just don’t realise it, or are stuck in a rut, as we say.

It’s clever packaging and marketing that keeps the Tata Sky’s of this world going. Not the actual content they offer.

Jeroen

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Its a lousy idea to remake a Tom Hanks movie that relied on his acting prowess for success. Movies like Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Terminal should not be remade.

Absolutely. Hanks is very selective, he works hard (they all do), he rejects roles and above all he has that cinematic sense. It would be next to impossible to emulate him.

Many south stars (Kamal Hasan and Mammooty for example) too have many of these qualities, I am sure they would have rejected such a project outright. This was where the late actors like Ompuri and Irrfan shone. Irrfan's demise is an enormous loss indeed.

Originally Posted by Raghu M

Please add Shawshank to the list too.

SR, in my opinion, can be remade. I sincerely hope I won't get banned for suggesting this. . An innocent person gets trapped, evidence in support of him gets smothered, a heartless prison, he gets exploited by the corrupt and cruel babus, an escape plan that works. All these are already been depicted in various Indian movies years (decades) before SR. But none of them can match SR.

SR has several elements that run parallel with Pappillon, a 1970s biopic. Pappillon was actually remade in Malayalam as Kalapani with full of Swadesi elements. The Cellular jail in Andaman formed the backdrop. It was a big budget movie, flopped in box office.

OT.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ajayc123

I am just curios about the impact of OTT on the traditional csble subscriptions like Tata Sky. I am wondering if guys here are still continuing to use the cable TV or have some folks started to discontinue the cable.

There is a dedicated thread (Cutting the cord - Ditching Satellite TV) for it. I have not had one in 10 years, 5 years outside and 5 years in India. Heck, I can count the number of instances I even needed a HDMI cable with the TV.

Indian broadcast houses have slowly been moving to streaming platforms since the mid-2010s. Since you mentioned Tata, their current offerings are split between streaming and traditional STB.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by mayukh42

Bollywood is almost finished when it comes to this. When is the last time you found a good song that made you sing it (and it wasn't a remix)? When was the last time you were taken aback by the movie's climax and did not predict it correctly? And the cinematography is not good enough to warrant watching it on big screens.


Bollywood (which is still very much involved in OTT - Mirzapur e.g. is Excel Entertainment) is still far, far away from creating shows like LOST, Wire, Breaking Bad, Narcos. Not because of budget, but because It cannot think beyond the same formula.

I beg to differ here and would like to point out some points:

Good films were earlier termed as Art movies and had a separate line of audiences altogether. Actors like Naseeruddin Shah or Om Puri did fabulous work back in the days but people hardly watched their movies. Cut to the last decade or so, even Irfan Khan and Manoj Bajpayee had to struggle to get audiences for their movies. It is to their credit that they soldiered on and reached where they are counted as genuine actors. Manoj Bajpayee had to do THE FAMILY MAN on an OTT platform to get his due finally although he was a well known name even before and so did Nawazuddin Siddique after he did Sacred Games.

Innovative directors like Anurag Kashyap or Tigmanshu Dhulia have struggled big time before the advent of OTT platforms. Films like Haasil, Mukkabaaz, Shagird, Ab tak Chappan have failed despite being such brilliant movies. The OTT platforms have given a new lease of life to small pictures with limited budget and great stories and that is the most heartwarming part. A GULAL or even GANGS OF WASSEYPUR would have been superhits if released on OTT platforms today.

Talking of Excel Entertainment, they have been very good in my view with very competent films to date. They have backed a very good film named Luck by Chance but it tanked at the box office despite being very innovative. Creative movies have always been made but those movies never found audiences before and that is where OTT platforms are winning since we are getting to see movies which were only loved by critics earlier.

I am glad that good movies are finding audiences through OTT platforms. Big banner production houses will slowly but surely fall in line and move away from character centric movies to good stories or else they will be gone and no one will miss them. I am happy that people like Irfan and Manoj Bajpayee are celebrated now and that people like Kumud Mishra or a Nawazuddin Siddique or even a Manoj Pahwa is getting his due.

[Turbo_Charger]

I ageee wholeheartedly with this assessment. Pls remember that movies that are working at the Box Office are the ones which have either something unique, are suited to Big Screen or can connect with the audiences with their genuine story or a different screenplay. Bollywood sadly is still stuck in the old way of telling their stories. They are still looking for formulas to work instead of trying to make good movies and leave the rest to the audience. They have invested heavily on technology, vfx and technicians but they are not willing to pay script writers nor are willing to tell new interesting stories that connect with the changing tastes & age of their target audience. Even the South Movies that have worked Nationally have some unique story to tell, that too in a different way.

When I can get content from around the world which at its best is the stuff that Bollywood can hope to be 'inspired' from and its worst is still much better than any recent movie that Bollywood can dish out, why would I bother to spend on fuel, parking, tickets and above all the hassle of going to the multiplex and bearing shouting & crying children and ringing mobile phones when I can peacefully watch the same movie in peace on my Home Theater? That too for 1 year for the price of watching 1 movie in a multiplex? What's my incentive? None.

This is the reason why most Bollywood movies are failing at the Box Office and the arrogant movie stars who think that the audience has some sort of obligation to watch their sleep inducing, cringefest, wooden expression laden movies should wake up and smell the 'Koffee' (pun intended). The world doesn't revolve around them and it's the audience which has made them rather than the other way around. If they want to shore up their fortunes they should heavily improve their content and also learn how to act rather than sleep walking through their roles.

PS : I'm not saying all of their movies are bad but the majority are when you objectively compare them with their global counterparts.

[dragracer567]

I am gonna have to disagree with most of the folks here but I really love going to the cinema. This might seem surprising coming from a millennial bordering Gen Z but I just love watching movies on the big screen. Mind you, I only choose to watch the bigger blockbusters in theaters, this year I've only seen Top Gun Maverick and Spiderman No Way Home on the big screen primarily because it is the only good movie to come out this year - I'm including hollywood, bollywood and regional movies here (watched both RRR and Vikram on OTT). It's just that going to the theatre feels like an event and when you're a young person, it's just another reason to hang out with your friends. It helps that all my friends still live in studios and tiny apartments

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I am a bit of an old git these days. I do believe in having a proper public broadcasting system next to a commercial one. So I will happily pay for that. Mind you, we did away with TV licensing many years ago. Unlike the UK where you still need to pay for your TV license, irrespective of what you watch (public or commercial) or how much you watch. A dying system if you ask me, it’s just that they can’t abolish it overnight as it would kill the BBC. Or at least all the managerial types would be without job. I am sure the actors and creative types would find work otherwise.

Jeroen

Apart from jobs, the BBC is woven into the fabric of British public life and is an institution that like the NHS symbolizes post-war Britain. It would certainly be difficult to abolish it and I guess it would die a slow death with funding cuts and falling viewership with BBC news probably surviving using a funding model similar to German DW.

[shancz]

Not a regular bollywood movie buff but of those select few I have watched I have come out disappointed.

Some observations :
- OTTs have good actors bollywood banks a lot on stars.
- OTTs follow the watch what you want over the watch what we want approach of bollywood.
- OTTs seem to be more approachable even by small town and relatively unknown but brilliant actors while bollywood seems more and more like a high cost and controlled enterprise which impedes creativity to certain extent.
- OTTs have so much more flavour partly because of a lower cost factor which enables better independence, creativity and risk taking.
- The concept of Series over 2-3 hour long movies which cuts down the commitment time and lets a lot more people be involved. They might end up binge watching is another issue though.

Not to forget that bollywood has some excellent actors and some brilliantly done movies but these are exceptions and probably not feasible economically (guessing) in an elaborate setup which bollywood follows.
That's what OTTs seem to be changing.

While the theater does provide an experience which cannot be matched by the comfort of our homes they will be limited to that alone, IMO.
The real world situation for most of us, going to a theater, is an irritating (traffic and parking) and costly affair.

On a similar but not same note, I recently rented Top Gun : Maverick on PrimeVideo for Rs. 119 for a 48 hour time period after starting it. Whoever was interested watched it at a time when they had those 2 hours. If the option was a theater, none of us would've watched due to timing constraints.