What happened to the dream?
Hindustan Times|November 10, 2024
Bollywood used to be so good at the populist fantasy, whether action or romance. Why is it all slo-mo, dad jokes and crude CGI today?
Deepanjana Pal
What happened to the dream?

Last week, the Hindi film industry delivered two of its shiniest offerings of the year: Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Singham Again.

It was a box-office face-off that had trade analysts and fans buzzing. Asked if this could be called "the Indian Barbenheimer", I just about managed to answer "Not quite", before my brain melted at the thought of Anees Bazmee being our Greta Gerwig and Rohit Shetty, our Christopher Nolan.

Their box-office successes aside, last year's Barbie and Oppenheimer stood out as unprecedented for the creative decisions taken by their directors. They were both bold, novel attempts to tell a somewhat-familiar story in a stunning new way.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Singham Again, in contrast, take pride in their lack of originality. Irrespective of how much they earn at the box office, the two films are emblematic of a critical problem within Bollywood: a crisis of the imagination.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 10, 2024-Ausgabe von Hindustan Times.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 10, 2024-Ausgabe von Hindustan Times.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS HINDUSTAN TIMESAlle anzeigen
Batting time: Preparations in lockdown mode for India
Hindustan Times

Batting time: Preparations in lockdown mode for India

All-out attack failed against New Zealand, and Aussie opener Usman Khawaja seems to have a point

time-read
3 Minuten  |
November 14, 2024
Hindustan Times

Number of crorepati taxpayers surges 323% in 10 yrs

The number of taxpayers with 1 crore plus gross annual income surged 323% to 350,129 in 2023-24 from 82,836 in 2013-14 while the number of income-tax assesses saw a 120% jump in last one decade to 79,212,146, signifying the government's policy nudge to deepen and widen the tax base while shielding the middle class, according government officials aware of the matter.

time-read
1 min  |
November 14, 2024
Hindustan Times

WHOLESALE PV SALES SLOW IN OCTOBER DESPITE FESTIVE DEMAND

India's wholesale passenger vehicle sales grew marginally year-on-year to 393,000 units in October despite two major festivals celebrated during the month.

time-read
1 min  |
November 14, 2024
Fox News host picked as US def chief
Hindustan Times

Fox News host picked as US def chief

President-elect Donald Trump has said that the new secretary of defence Pete Hegseth is a true believer in America First approach

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 14, 2024
Biden meets Trump, promises smooth transition of power
Hindustan Times

Biden meets Trump, promises smooth transition of power

Donald Trump left White House on January 20, 2021, as a bitter man angry at the 2020 election results that he continued to reject, as an isolated man whose own party sought to distance itself from Trump after the mob insurrection on US Capitol, as a politician whose political obituary was being widely written in Washington DC and beyond, and as a president who had broken the tradition of peaceful transfer of power.

time-read
1 min  |
November 14, 2024
Hindustan Times

COP29: Developing nations start work on new climate finance text

After developing countries rejected the first draft on the new collective quantified goal (NCQG), on Tuesday, co-chairs of the programme on NCQG at the COP 29 climate talks in Baku released another iteration, on Wednesday morning that runs into 34 pages.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 14, 2024
Hindustan Times

Cautious rebuilding of Delhi-Kabul ties

The Taliban's appointment of a consul for the Afghan mission in Mumbai appears to be part of a nascent and cautious process of engagement between the two sides.

time-read
1 min  |
November 14, 2024
Hindustan Times

Looking beyond the CPI numbers

Volatile food prices, abetted by the climate crisis, and geopolitical unrest complicate policy choices

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 14, 2024
Maha hitmen who shot each other were hired to kill techie
Hindustan Times

Maha hitmen who shot each other were hired to kill techie

On September 5 evening, panic gripped the crowded Badlapur railway station when a man fired a couple of rounds from his pistol. Police had said it was a fallout of a professional rivalry among sharpshooters hired for the same job.

time-read
1 min  |
November 14, 2024
Tiniest habitat can be conserved, says Rahmani
Hindustan Times

Tiniest habitat can be conserved, says Rahmani

No species or habitat can be left to disappear. With timely intervention, even species with the smallest population and tiniest habitat can be conserved, veteran ornithologist and former director of Bombay Natural History Society, Asad Rahmani explains in his memoir.

time-read
1 min  |
November 14, 2024