Thu. Mar 28th, 2024
A still from a 80s film

There was a time when Indian Cinema was appreciated for the quality-oriented content is produced. Filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, V Shantaram, Bimal Roy, and many others were the true devotees of this art of cinema. They would present real-life stories in the most interesting way possible and some of their fine works were also used to be the adaptations of great Indian literature which we rarely see now. Their films used to be screened at various international film festivals and not just one or two, at least most of their works but now only a few Indian films make up for these film festivals. So, where did we lag behind?

A still from Pather Panchali

Today, we will be discussing how Indian Cinema collapsed post-80s despite having inspirational filmmakers and their work in front. The initial times of Indian Cinema witnessed the stories consisting of the common face of Indian population i.e the average Indian man, a farmer, a middle-aged working man, etc they used to be the face of the nation when it comes to the medium of cinema. The films used to be filled with subtle elements of comedy and tragedy, at the end also making sure that the motive of the film reaches out to the viewers.

The 80s of Indian cinema witnessed the rise of various superstars as well as the build of big studios which produced most of the films. The capital was easily available so the main focus on the story was lost. The studios entered the market only for the purpose of earning money from this cine business. Various techniques were introduced to grab and fetch the audience to the theatres. These included unnecessary item songs, a lot of action sequences that were not even worth it. Somewhere in between the art from cinema diminished and soon the business took over.

A still from a 80s film

The film industry had superstars like Amitabh Bachhan, Shatrughan Sinha, and many more. Hence most of the filmmakers made it a point to grab these stars rather than focusing on stories. The films began to run on the name of the star cast and hence the value of stories decreased over the years. Only filmmakers like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee, Sai Paranjpe and a few others produced films which were quality-oriented but the mainstream films took over the art and hence if you google out you will find movies which cheap action sequences and senseless scripts, most of these films belong to the era of 80s.

Though now the scenario seems to be changing as audiences are getting more interested in quality content rather than just the name of big stars. And soon the new phase of content will begin too, now is just the beginning.

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