Two big directors, Prashanth Neel and Rajkumar Hirani, are coming to win the hearts of the audience this week with their much-awaited movies, Salaar and Dunki.
Prashanth Neel has developed a huge fan following after KGF, especially among the youth. The kind of action blocks he designs, the kind of elevations he gives to his heroes, and the way he triggers the imagination of his audience with his powerful storytelling are something that very few directors can achieve.
But there is also a complaint that all his films look similar and Salaar is no different. There is a huge hangover of KGF in every scene of Salaar even though both films have nothing in common. The audience has seen enough of that world and some fatigue has crept in about witnessing that kind of world again in Salaar.
The film has to work beyond the action scenes for it to sustain beyond its opening weekend. The drama and conflict have to be very engaging to attract not just action lovers but also people who crave solid content.
On the other hand, Raj Kumar Hirani has delivered some of the most memorable movies in the last two decades. Who can forget the Munnabhai series, 3 Idiots, PK, and Sanju?
The only film legendary director Shankar did a remake belonged to Hirani. Such is his legacy. Now he has teamed up with Bollywood’s biggest superstar for a heartwarming film Dunki.
The biggest challenge he is going to face is that there is a shift in the audience’s taste post-pandemic. The audience who used to enjoy his kind of ‘drama’ films has now moved on to OTT.
So it is really difficult to predict if the audience would be ready to come to theaters with the same enthusiasm to watch a Hirani film as they used to in the pre-pandemic era.
Dunki will also give clarity about the viability of big stars attempting such light-hearted movies when the audience is only accepting big-budget spectacles in theaters.
So this week is going to be one helluva week for cinema enthusiasts. Let’s hope both Prashanth Neel and Raju Hirani deliver blockbusters once again.
