The new can become old quickly in this age.
By Tathagata Mitra
BANGALORE: Every now and then Bollywood gets hit with a ‘new’ wave. Not the type of new that means a change in the style of cinema or something that would suggest a nouveau age of films.
The ‘new’ is rather new faces, new voices, new ideas. In the past few years, going as far back as 2007, there has come an entire generation of new actors who have taken Bollywood by storm.
The list includes: Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Parineeti Chopra, Sonakshi Sinha, Siddharth Malhotra, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Shraddha Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and so many others. As these youngsters started swarming into the studio floors, the generation of Hrithik and Abhishek , which was then the new generation compared to the generation of Khans and Khiladis, soon became the ex-generation.
Also, Bollywood saw a new trend: the trend of Rs. 100 crore films. Bollywood’s 100 crore club started with Aamir Khan’s Ghajini in 2008. Although most of the star packed flick of Bollywood today make 100 crores easily on the box office, when it began it was quite an astounding feat. Dhoom 3, the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time has grossed more than 500 crores worldwide. Soon producers will be looking for the 1000 crore mark, it seems.
It is not just the actors and the gross revenues though, that have seen a makeover in the past few years. Bollywood is now teeming with fresh directors and singers as well. Vikramaditya Motwane with Udaan and Lootera has left his mark in the industry. Ayan Bannerjee, collaborating with Ranbir Kapoor and Karan Johar, has already made two beautiful films, Wake Up Sid! and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.
New singers like Monali Thakur, Mustafa Zaid, Shlamali Kholgade, Aditi Singh Sharma, Neeti Mohan, Arijit Singh and of course Ankit Tiwari are delivering one successful number at the box office after another.
Right now, it is truly a new generation of Bollywood – the most commercially successful and all around lauded generation.