Manoj Bajpayee talks about the emphasis on box office numbers in Bollywood and the significance of reviews.
The biggest change in the cinema landscape after the pandemic has been the sudden emphasis on box office numbers. Till five years ago, a layman did not know how much a film had made, nor did they care. But today, box office numbers largely dictate how ‘successful’ a film is. In a recent chat with DNA, actor Manoj Bajpayee lamented this state of affairs and held the industry responsible for it as a whole.
Talking about why every viewer was armed with box office figures today, the National Award winner said, “If you hit them with numbers every day, then they will talk only about that. Most people are on social media. Every second post is about the numbers of recent releases. Earlier they used to talk about 3 stars and 2 stars. Now they talk about earnings, ignoring the stars. Now, for them, measurement of any success is on the basis of these numbers.”
Manoj, who was most recently seen in the thriller Joram, said that the current state of affairs is an indictment of how the industry is functioning, prioritising these box office figures and bombarding the consumer with them. “Whatever you have been giving to them, they will consume. It’s not their fault. What are we doing as an industry? What precedent are we setting? Is this the right way? That we have to think very deeply about,” he added.
Manoj Bajpayee has been seen in two films this year – Joram and Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai. The latter was first released on Zee5, following which exceptional positive reaction compelled the makers to give it a limited release in theatres. Addressing the phenomenon, Manoj added, “That was historic. That says a lot about the power of good storytelling, good content. And it proves that good films will always find their audience.”
The actor will now begin 2024 on a masaledaar note in Abhishek Chaubey’s Netflix series Killer Soup. The dark comedy also stars Konkona Sen Sharma and will premiere on Netflix on January 11.
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