Aamir Khan has recently expressed concerns about the current state of Hindi cinema, suggesting that filmmakers have lost touch with their roots. This disconnection, he believes, is a significant reason why many Hindi films are struggling at the box office, while South Indian films continue to thrive.
Speaking at an event on Sunday, Aamir discussed the success of South Indian films, attributing it to their directors’ ability to tap into strong emotions in their storytelling. He noted that this emotional depth is something that many Hindi filmmakers have forgotten, leading to a disconnect with their audience.
Veteran lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar moderated a session with Aamir Khan and asked why South films are succeeding in theaters while Hindi films are not. “One of the reasons also is that writers or directors in Hindi perhaps have been trying to entertain an audience which is slightly finer. They’ve forgotten their roots. There are finer emotions, then there are baser emotions. Revenge is a strong emotion. But doubt is a light emotion; it’s a less attractive emotion. Anger, love, revenge. We (Bollywood) are choosing to talk about different aspects of life. We’re not sticking to the broader strokes,” Aamir said.
Aamir Khan believes South Indian cinema succeeds by showing big films in single-screen theaters, while Hindi films focus on multiplex audiences, which are smaller. He added, “When multiplexes came, there was a talk in the film industry that the audience is changing and its (multiplex) audience is different. It (The conversation) had started growing very strongly. Then, there was a certain genre of film that was being made, which was called multiplex films. This is a multiplex film, and this is a single-screen film. The South films are what we typically used to call single-screen films, mass, very hard-hitting, very broad strokes. I think maybe the Hindi filmmakers tried to go more towards multiplex films”.
‘Lahore 1947’, starring Sunny Deol, is an upcoming film production that will be a collaboration between Aamir Khan and Javed Akhtar.
