Vishek Chauhan, the owner of Roopbani Cinema in Purnia, Bihar, has raised an important issue in Bollywood: the lack of young superstars. He mentions that Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, and Ranbir Kapoor are the largest crowd-pullers, but they are all over 40.
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Chauhan asks where the 20-something icon is, pointing out that Bollywood has not produced new superstars in the last two decades. This can be attested to by the fact that current movies have relied so much on known stars.
Even talented actors such as Vicky Kaushal, though featured in movies such as Chhaava, are not perceived to have the same star quality as the old superstars.
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This lack of star development is concerning, given that the existing audience is getting older, and younger audiences are more attracted to online content such as K-Dramas.
Chauhan’s groundbreaking ‘Leave your phone, get free popcorn’ promotion highlights his determination to revive the cinematic experience. He speaks of the necessity to keep kids away from undue social media control and make them participate in communal activities such as cinema.
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But his fear of the effect of social media on young audiences and the urgency for cinema to re-establish contact with them are issues that are of immediate concern to Bollywood in order to remain viable in the future. The industry’s dependency on veteran actors and failure to nurture new talent is a critical challenge to its long-term viability.
Bollywood must work on generating new icons to engage the younger generation and maintain its significance in the era of the internet.
