With A-listers doing maximum two films a year, have they opened the door for new entrants?
There’s been a wave of new actors charting their course into Tinsel Town, and, surprisingly, this new lot is not only bringing in a fresh appeal to cinema but is also guaranteeing good numbers at the box office.
A host of top production houses like Dharma Productions, YRF, Balaji Motion Pictures and Excel Entertainment have signed newcomers for plum projects and is promising lead roles in some of their upcoming films. And what do you know? These films are big-budget productions.
For instance, Fan is the only film that Yash Raj Films is producing and is featuring a BIG star, Shah Rukh Khan. The rest of their films have Ranveer Singh, Sushant Singh Rajput, Ayushmann Khurrana, Arjun Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur playing the leading man.
Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, both fairly new entrants to the industry, recently delivered a success in Gunday. Ranveer Singh’s next is Zoya Akhtar’s untitled film, where he will be sharing screen space with Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar.
Sidharth Malhotra, who has just two films under his belt, too surprised the audience and tradewallahs in his second outing Hasee Toh Phasee. Alia Bhatt managed to bag a big-budget film like Highway directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Sajid Nadidawala. Sushant Singh Rajput will be shouldering mammoth films like Paani directed by Shekhar Kapur, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! by Dibaker Banerjee and will also be seen in P.K. directed by Rajkumar Hirani along with Aamir Khan and Anushka Sharma.
Varun Dhawan will be taking guard for the second time in April with Main Tera Hero and will be later seen in Dharma Productions’ Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania. Aditya Roy Kapur, who delivered one of the biggest hits last year in Aashiqui 2, has managed to impress director Abhishek Kapoor and will be seen in Fitoor opposite Katrina Kaif.
Let’s ask industry experts for their take on the success of the new wave of stars:
Devang Sampat, CSO, Cinepolis, India
Effectively, the script is becoming bigger than the star. I wouldn’t attribute this to A-list stars doing just one or two films a year but the movie-watching patterns of the audience has changed. Earlier, the audience used to watch three to four big films a year but now they watch 12 films a year. Due to this trend, there are more films being made and all kinds of stories are being brought to the fore. It’s a very positive sign that producers are now betting big bucks on newcomers too.
Kumar Taurani
A-list actors will continue to rule the roost but since there are only a handful of them in this league, filmmakers will have to turn to the younger lot. While there is a lot of new talent and many big production houses are backing them with big-budget films too, top rung actors will never lose their sheen. Producers usually keep a bouquet of films planned for a year, so if there are two films with big stars, they also have five lined up with younger stars. At the end of the day, a big star guarantees returns at the box office. There is space for everyone to co-exist.
Ratan Jain
The industry has always seen a generation of actors come and go. This is a very positive time for newcomers but the charm of A-list stars will never fade. While a lot of production houses are backing the new lot, the demand for top actors will continue. There is only a handful of these big actors and most of them co-produce their own films. So producers have no choice but to back newcomers.
Sheel Kumar
All the stars were newcomers one day. But for a very long time, we didn’t see new stars arriving. Even if a few made their debut, many were lost. But in recent times, many new talents have arrived and those who have potential have survived. Because cinema is changing, producers have also changed their approach and have started signing new actors. But, actors aside, I think producers are investing in content these days. What Bhatt saab has been doing for years is being followed by others only now. Casting has become more efficient.
Atul Agnihotri
A star film is a star film and that will not change. Star power in our country is very different. When you cast a star, you do the mathematics accordingly. You know what day one’s collections will be and all-time collections as well. Today, we have different kinds of films being made and casting takes place accordingly. If a film needs a college student, the filmmaker will look for young actors, not a 40-years old. Also, there is conviction in content.
But a star film has more reach than any other type of film, and it cannot be compared to any other type of film. Speaking of producers spending more… I think everything has become fairer. So if a script demands an average budget, producers rein in expenses. If it needs a bigger budget, they are prepared to spend. With corporates coming in, the cash flow has increased.