Celebrity Column | How dare they, how dare you?, writes Sajid Khan

Cinema is changing. Yes, I agree. But for the worse… box-office collections, profits and audience footfalls have only degraded every passing year. Out of all the films that release every year, less than 10 percent turn out to be hits. That means 90 percent of the films releasing every year end up as huge financial losses, which, in turn, are forcing studios to shut down. Why has this been happening over the last decade or so? One simple answer. There are no HINDI films being made. Huh? What sort of a stupid statement has Sajid Khan made?

Hindi films have emotions. Hindi films have song-and-dance, where actors lip-sync to the songs. Hindi films have maar-dhaad and dialogue-baazi. Hindi films defy logic, but you really don’t care as you are having too much fun watching them. Hindi films very rarely get more than a 2-star review. Hindi films, even if not runaway hits, tend to lose very little of its investment. Now, ask yourself: Do you see any of these HINDI films around you anymore? Not too many. And guess what? They do well, or in the worst-case scenario, lose a little money. But most Hindi films are crappy, one would argue. So what are the 90 percent of flops? Great cinema? The truth is that if there were regular Hindi films being made, foreign films would never be a threat to Bollywood.

Fast & Furious 8 opens in India this week and most likely, will end up making around Rs 60 crore in the first week itself. That’s more than the combined business of all the so-called Hindi films that hit screens in the last month. Just answer one question for me: Would a Hindi film ever open number one at the box office in America? No, right? Then how come most Hollywood biggies open at number 1 in India?

The answer is simple: real Hollywood films are like real Hindi films. They defy logic, they have maar-dhaad and dialogue-baazi, over-the-top emotions, and are unabashedly enjoyed by worldwide audiences, including you. Plus, they know that Bollywood is shying away from making the real Hindi films, which would pose a threat to them. Let me give you an example. If Badrinath Ki Dulhania which is a real Hindi film released in the same week with Fast & Furious 8 – which would be number 1?

But if Fast & Furious 8 released on the same day with the other Hindi movies of last month, which would be number 1? The British had one theory — divide and rule. In Hollywood’s case, you are dividing and they are ruling. How dare they and how dare you?