For Indian cinema, 2025 has been a year of many stunning revelations and triumphs. We are now in the age of Pan-Indian entertainers that blur the boundaries between regions and languages and I am personally very excited about the response to Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra. This Malayalam superhero film is the highest grossing Indian female-led film of all time!
EXCLUSIVE: Anand Pandit analyses the surprise success of Saiyaara, “There were no interviews of the lead stars in the media, trailer received sensational reviews”; also opens up on the relevance of promotions in a specially authored article
Speaking specifically of Hindi cinema, it has been a fruitful journey packed with surprises. Alongside a big screen entertainer like Chhaava that minted over Rs 797 crores worldwide, a musical love story like Saiyaara earned Rs. 577 crores. The animated film Mahavatar Narsimha reached a worldwide gross of nearly Rs. 300 crores and has become India’s highest-grossing animated film to date. A small budget film like Sitaare Zameen Par went on to gross Rs. 266 crores worldwide and it is clear from these numbers that the audience is increasingly looking for thematic diversity. The overall business shows that the appetite for unique theatrical experiences is very much alive.
I am often asked to compare Saiyaara to multi-starrers that have failed to ignite the box office this year and my answer is simple. Some of the most successful love stories of all time have featured debutants, be it Bobby, Love Story, Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Betaab or Ashiqui. The audience wants to see fresh faces in love stories. And films in any case work or fail due to their content and the audience response. A story with no emotional coherence fails its star cast, no matter how accomplished it is. When good storytelling matches scale and spectacle, then we get a Pathaan, a Jawan or a Baahubali.
Connection is the keyword in cinema. Reinvention is needed only when this connection with the audience goes missing. The reason why so many old classics were re-released recently and did well is because they had soulfulness, which we have occasionally lost sight of. In trying to be more like Hollywood and remaking Korean hits, young directors perhaps lost touch with the Indian idioms that once made our cinema so unique and popular around the world. Films like Awaara and Disco Dancer were loved in Russia because they were Indian to the core. They had elemental emotions, celebrated the underdog, explored themes of family, love, survival and struck a deep chord. And most importantly, they had really good music. Saiyaara connotes the return of a classic musical love story that audiences had been missing for a while.
However, thanks to audience exposure to global content on OTT streamers, we must, of course, tell stories in a slicker style, cover broader themes, and address current issues with gender sensitivity and a wider human perspective. There is always room for reinvention without changing the emotional core that once made Hindi cinema a soft power like no other.
Mohit Suri who directed Saiyaara, said categorically that he was given complete creative control over the film and was allowed to make the film he wanted to. This is a very important insight to heed. In my opinion, corporatisation and behind-the-scenes strategies if taken beyond a point can be detrimental to the creative core of cinema. They should not overtake the passion for cinema that is at the heart of every successful film, be it a high-budget production or a potential sleeper hit. If you remember, before Saiyaara’s release, there were no interviews of the lead stars in the media even though the trailer itself had received sensational reviews.
Sometimes, a film can speak for itself and that is also a kind of strategy. Sleeper hits especially depend on strong word-of-mouth feedback, which only happens when the storytelling is genuine. High-budget films, meanwhile, need to balance scale with substance, otherwise, they risk falling flat despite promotional activities like visiting reality shows, malls, etc.
For the longest time, re-release buzz depended on the musical score of a film. If it caught on, footfalls were guaranteed in theatres. Be it Raj Kapoor, Gurudutt, Bimal Roy, Basu Chatterjee, Manmohan Desai or Yash Chopra, their film’s music preceded the success of their cinema. Today, a very thoughtfully designed digital outreach is important to make people aware of the film’s substance. As for on ground activities, they may attract curious fans but may not generate results at the box-office. If the trailer, songs, and most importantly the story don’t resonate with people, promotions won’t really help. So, marketing strategies should always complement the film and not try to cover up its weaknesses.
Also Read: Saiyaara to stream on Netflix from September 12 after 50-day theatrical run
More Pages: Saiyaara Box Office Collection
, Saiyaara Movie Review
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