Pushpa, Ladli Behna & Trump….the Connecting ALPHAbet

 Pushpa, Ladli Behna & Trump….the Connecting ALPHAbet  

The rising need to see a strong alpha male is generating new trends in box-office 

as well as in global politics

 

 

A lot has been analyzed about the box office success in the north India for southern films like Pushpa. Most of these analyses conclude that Hindi film producers left the masala film space which has been captured by the southern films. Even assuming that this is true, what still remains unexplained is why were masala films  (that dominated the Bollywood during 70s/80s/90s ) ditched by the film producers during 2000s and 2010s. And then why did suddenly in last five years, we saw a market for masala films.

 

Let’s take a deco of the history. The core audience of Bollywood masala films was the middle class of 70s/80s/90s. But by late 90s and early 2000s, a big shift had happened in the box office collections of Hindi films – the titantic dominance of the urban multiplexes and of the overseas market. The dominance was so much that the producers were compelled to address to the tastes and preferences of these audiences.  As a result, the lead hero role that was largely an aggressive action hero became metrosexual. The angry young man Vijay lost its market to the metrosexual Rahul (SRK). Salman Khan moved away from his hairy chest and flaunted his clean shaven chest in the song O..O..jaane jaanea (Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya, 1998). 

 

While the metrosexual hero was the role model for the urban Indians and the overseas Indians but not so much for the audiences of single screen cinemahalls. In those days, for the Producer, the share from single screen cinemahalls was significantly low, he did not see much value in catering to their tastes and preferences.

 

Later during the 2010s, with rising incomes and with spread of multiplexes across India, the single screen audiences started shifting to multiplexes. And a good section of urban Indian and the overseas audiences started moving to OTT and live entertainment. So, by late 2010s and early 2020s, the box-office was dominated by the single screen audiences of 1990s / 2000s.  Thus, the tastes and preferences of this audience started determining the box-office performance of Hindi films. For them the real hero was still the aggressive action hero and the not metrosexual character. So even north India would see more followers for a macho Prabhas than for a metrosexual Ranbir Kapoor. But when Ranbir Kapoor chose to shun his metrosexual look and become aggressive alpha male, his Animal (2023) became a his life-time top-grosser. The same happened with Shahid Kapoor’s transformation into an aggressive alpha male role in Kabir Singh (2019) 

 

Box office now had again shifted away from the metrosexual hero to a strong alpha male hero. And this hero could be masculine even to the extent of being a misogynist. And whether one likes it or not, the support for such masculine role models is on the rise. The classic example is the strong mandate for Trump in US. Trump saw no risk in openly being seen as a critique of women, in fact, he saw an opportunity.

 

Now, the big question. Why does something that appears regressive to a modern an liberal citizen work on the silver screen ? 

 

A section of men feels  that women are now being appeased beyond a point and they see an unfair competition – in jobs, in opportunities etc. They see the growth of women in society’s power structure as an encroachment in their power domain.  Therefore, a public display of strong aggressive masculine character on the big screen, provides them with  solace and a vicarious sense of justice. And this is even more so when the male character is a misogynist. 

 

Therefore, what is working on the box-office is not masala films but films with an aggressive or action-oriented strong male character. Those whose still feel that masala films are working should think whether a southern masala film with hero like Rishi Kapoor (of 70s/80s/90s) work ? 

 

And what would schemes like Ladli Behna do to the rising urge for watching films with aggressive male character ? No prizes for guessing.

 

Now, the last question. If the angst against women dominance can be an election winning formula in US, could it also become so in India ? An immediate answer would be….. ‘NO’.  That is true, but there also exists a counter opinion -  The first change in the establishment in India happened in 1977 and what preceded it ? …..The success of anti-establishment based films on big screen. Similarly, in 80s NRIs did not have a very positive image in India but by late 90s, NRIs had become the aspirational jamai raja. When did box-office hits like DDLJ and Pardes release ?

 

 

At some level, cinema does remain a reflection of the anxieties and aspirations of masses.

 

 

 

 

DEEPESH SALGIA

Producer, Mughal-e-Azam : The Musical