By Anil Merani: The much-expected bumper opening of Pushpa 2 will again reignite the debate about Alpha male film lead and wanton cine violence.
Allu Arjun plays a macho sandalwood smuggler ticking all the boxes of alpha males and violence.
Does good Box Office mean that the audience’s taste has again changed and that more understanding male characters (Ayushmann Khurrana) t a thing of the past?
This new trend first came along in 2019 when Kabir Singh got a fillup with Animal, and now the Puspha franchise seems to indicate that it is here to stay.
This doesn’t signify a regression in society, but rather a yearning for the comfort of traditional tropes amidst the social-political upheaval of the past decade. It’s a desire to escape to a world where you feel at home.
Violence and complex male characters were also part of the angry man generation in the seventies and eighties.
Films, like society, have trends that resurface. This cyclical nature of film trends reassures us that we are part of a continuous cultural evolution.
The 2000 saw conformist male characters popularized by Shahrukh Khan; this trend is passe now but might return with a new avtaar
Film is a democratic process. People willingly buy tickets, so it is a given that a vast audience of Pushpa is the fair sex.
These numbers prove our theory that they, too, want a respite from domestic discord and other social decay.
We can’t forget that Indian society is still traditional, and the woke tendency is still limited to a tiny urban sliver that dominates the social media conversation, which gives it an imaginary heft.
A superhit film must attract audiences across all demographics, not just the elite. This respect for the diversity of audience preferences is what truly makes a film successful.
Rising ticket and F & B prices have made cinema go beyond the reach of the lower and middle classes, so the public picks and chooses which film they want to invest in. For the remaining movies, you have OTT and satellite TV.
The frontbenchers dominating single screens in the mass circuits are uncomfortable with women characters calling the shots.
Agreed, you might say films should be a vehicle of societal change, but let’s face it: when riding hundreds of crores, you would rather follow the trend than buckle it.
