Bollywood Blockbusters In 4-5 Years Are ‘Damn Boring’: Filmmaker R Balki
Acclaimed filmmaker R Balki, known for hits like Paa and Pad Man, has expressed disappointment with the state of contemporary Hindi cinema. Speaking at MIT World Peace University, Balki criticized recent Bollywood blockbusters, labeling many of them as uninspiring and monotonous.
“The Fun is Missing”
Reflecting on the last four to five years of Hindi films, Balki remarked, “A few blockbusters that have happened in the last four or five years, or whatever, have actually been the worst films. Not only from an intellectual or artistic point of view but also from the old entertainment, ‘masala, paisa vasool’ kind of a feel. They’re damn boring. The fun has completely gone from our blockbusters.”
Balki compared today’s big-budget films to the iconic works of the 1970s by Manmohan Desai, citing classics like Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and Naseeb (1981). Recalling a retrospective of Amitabh Bachchan films in 2022, Balki said these older blockbusters provided genuine entertainment, something he finds missing in recent hits.
“It’s All About Marketing”
He criticised the heavy reliance on marketing strategies, arguing that the focus has shifted from storytelling to profit-making. “It’s become like a project. There’s an economics associated with that stuff. They want to recover this, they’re putting this money, they’re pumping the marketing out. It’s marketing, basically. It’s just driving people towards believing something is good. By the time people believe it’s bad, the film has made its money,” Balki explained.
Balki’s Journey in Bollywood
Balki debuted as a director in 2007 with Cheeni Kum, a romantic comedy starring Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu. Over the years, he has delivered notable films like Paa (2009), Pad Man (2018), and Chup: Revenge of the Artist (2022). His latest release, Ghoomer, featuring Saiyami Kher and Abhishek Bachchan, earned critical praise but struggled at the box office.
“Ghoomer Got Smashed by Gadar 2”
Balki attributed Ghoomer’s underwhelming box-office performance to stiff competition from Anil Sharma’s Gadar 2, starring Sunny Deol. “It didn’t get sandwiched, it got smashed! We had no other date. Had we come along with Gadar 2, we may have been better off. This kind of tsunami was not expected,” he told The Indian Express.
While Balki remains optimistic about the future, his remarks underline the evolving challenges in Bollywood, where storytelling often takes a back seat to marketing and profit-driven priorities.
