Big-budget Hindi commercial cinema is a man’s world. These films mostly revolve around the male lead, who gets better roles, more media coverage — and much more money. That is the disappointing truth.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s drama Gangubai Kathiawadi, which has Alia Bhatt in the titular role of a sex worker who becomes a power centre, is a rare recent instance of a big-budget female-centric blockbuster. Sudipto Sen’s drama The Kerala Story is another female-centric success story. However, TKS, a small-budget film, is a super hit because of its focus on the issues of conversion and radicalisation of women. The film, in short, is not standard Bollywood fare.
ALIA IS AT THE TOP, FOR NOW
Alia Bhatt is, without question, the biggest success story today. Bhatt enjoyed a brilliant 2022, a dismal year for most others. Gangubai Kathiawadi featured her career best performance, and she was also remarkable as a victim of domestic violence in Jasmeet K Reen’s much-appreciated dark comedy Darlings, a Netflix film.
That was not all. Bhatt appeared in SS Rajamouli’s record-breaking period drama, RRR, in which she is the fiancée of one of the two male leads (Ram Charan). In Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva, a fantasy action adventure film, she is Shiva’s (Ranbir Kapoor) girlfriend. While her characters in Brahmastra and RRR lack depth, Gangubai Kathiawadi has revealed what she can achieve if she gets a well-written central role in a big-budget film.
Bhatt is waiting for the release of Karan Johar’s much-awaited romantic drama, Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani. Johar faces the challenge of delivering a hit with Ranveer Singh, Bhatt’s talented co-star, who hasn’t had a great time at the box office lately. Will Bhatt play a crucial role in reviving Singh’s career? That is possible.
EXCITING PATH AHEAD FOR DEEPIKA
Deepika Padukone suffered a setback with Kabir Khan’s sports biopic 83 (2021), a critically acclaimed commercial failure. Her performance in Shakun Batra’s romantic drama, Gehraiyaan, released on Amazon Prime last year, was appreciated.
The actor became the centre of a controversy because of the colour of her bikini in Besharam Rang’s music video in Siddharth Anand’s action drama Pathaan, an all-time blockbuster. Although Shah Rukh Khan was the main reason why Pathaan became such a huge hit, Padukone and John Abraham also benefited from the film’s success.
Padukone will now appear in a small role in Atlee’s much-awaited action thriller Jawan. Rumours suggest she might make a blink-and-miss appearance in Rohit Shetty’s cop drama, Singham Again. However, the actress can be expected to make some serious impact with her roles in Nag Ashwin’s bilingual science fiction film Project K (Telugu and Hindi) in which she is appearing alongside Prabhas and Siddharth Anand’s action drama Fighter in which her co-star is Hrithik Roshan. Project K and Fighter are generously budgeted ambitious films. Few will be surprised if both become blockbusters.
THE ‘K’ STARS, AND OTHERS
An amusing fact of modern-day Bollywood is that the names of many leading ladies start with ‘K’. Katrina Kaif, who is one of them, had a mediocre last release: the supernatural comedy Phone Bhoot helmed by Gurmeet Singh. However, Kaif can bounce back in the coming months. Her upcoming releases include the action drama Tiger 3, a Maneesh Sharma directorial in which she is appearing alongside Salman Khan. Merry Christmas, another film in which her co-star is Vijay Sethupati, is being helmed by Sriram Raghavan. While Merry Christmas could spring a surprise of the kind Raghavan has delivered in the past, Tiger 3 is a near-certain blockbuster.
Kriti Sanon delivered a lukewarm success with Amar Kaushik’s horror comedy Bhediya, in which she appeared alongside Varun Dhawan. She played the female lead in Rohit Dhawan’s action drama Shehzada, a box-office dud, which had Kartik Aaryan in the titular role. The actress’s next release is Om Raut’s bilingual mythological Adipurush (Telugu and Hindi), a film that has given rise to great expectations within the industry. Sanon also has Vikas Bahl’s sci-fi thriller Ganapath – Part 1, another ambitious film in which Tiger Shroff is playing the main role.
Kiara Advani has been part of Anees Bazmee’s horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, a blockbuster. She also featured in Raj Mehta’s family drama Jugjugg Jeeyo, which was reasonably successful. Advani’s third recent release, Shashank Khaitan’s thriller Govinda Naam Mera, which premiered on Disney+ Hotstar, received a mixed response.
In both BB2 and JJJ, her theatrical releases, Advani has not had meaty roles with which she could have made significant impact. Much could change after the release of S Shankar’s Telugu thriller Game Changer, which will aspire for success beyond the local market with its dubbed Hindi version because its male lead Ram Charan has become a household name after RRR’s success. Advani is also playing the female lead in Satyaprem Ki Katha, a much-awaited romantic drama helmed by Sameer Vidwans in which her co-star is Kartik Aaryan.
The brilliant Tabu has featured in huge successes such as BB2 and Abhishek Pathak’s crime thriller Drishyam 2. She also appeared in a crucial role in Ajay Devgn’s action drama Bholaa, which was moderately successful. The actress has teamed up with Devgn for the musical love story Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, their tenth onscreen collaboration helmed by Neeraj Pandey.
Kangana Ranaut’s career has hit a low in recent times. But, the subject of her upcoming self-directed drama Emergency revolving around the 1975-77 Emergency can attract viewers even if critics do not shower praise on the film. Ananya Pandey can also deliver a hit with Raj Shandilyaa’s comedy drama Dream Girl 2, a potential comeback vehicle for Ayushmann Khurrana, its leading man.
Although Alia Bhatt is at the top, the never-ending race for the number one spot continues. No matter who leads the pack after the upcoming films get released, however, what the industry ultimately needs is more traffic at the ticket counters.
The author, a journalist for three decades, writes on literature and pop culture. Among his books are ‘MSD: The Man, The Leader’, the bestselling biography of former Indian captain MS Dhoni, and the ‘Hall of Fame’ series of film star biographies. Views expressed are personal.
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