A video by writer Kurt Vonnegut charting popular stories along a graph sums up the current state of Bollywood.
The story of Cinderella is one of the storylines he charts. The line graph shows the rise as a staircase when Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother arranges for her to attend the ball. Unfortunately, there is a sharp decline when she has to return home from the prom at midnight. When the prince finds her, there will be an ascension again.
Bollywood is Cinderella and it’s midnight.
The Hindi film industry experienced one of its worst years in 2022, with most, if not all, of the films, failing at the box office, except for The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Gangubai Kathiawadi. Combine this miserable run with a growing boycott culture, and it calls out to the world of Bollywood and its inhabitants, which can no longer be attributed as marginal or irrelevant.
Laal Singh Chaddha, the remake of Forrest Gump, starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan, released in August 2022, failed to attract audiences to theatres and suffered a heady dose of boycotts, which many believe may have affected ticket sales.
People in the film industry and their observers are watching this trend closely and perhaps with trepidation. If this downward spiral continues, it will start affecting other aspects of Bollywood. In this case, the actor and actress endorsement marks.
In 2021, film actors and actresses added more than 80% share of advertisements that featured celebrities according to AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research.
Advertisers invest a lot of money in advertising, with a large portion of it going to celebrities. However, a poor showing at the box office and a controversial public figure due to boycott calls can affect the business of celebrity brands.
Vijay Subramaniam believes that this is a “transitional phase” and will not have a long-term impact on celebrities as brands “don’t sign celebrities for what they do at the box office, they sign celebrities for what they stand for. He is the co-founder and CEO of Collective Artists Network.
But the past can mean different answers. Snapdeal severed ties with Aamir Khan after he revealed his ex-wife Kiran Rao’s remark about India’s growing intolerance. The ouster was in response to growing calls to boycott Khan’s films at the time over the remark.
“I don’t think so,” says Lloyd Mathias, a business strategist and angel investor. He believes that brands are and will undoubtedly be careful about their communications because there is a certain emphasis on cancelling culture on the Internet today. “Brands don’t leave celebrities out” because there is value in a good brand-celebrity fit.
First, cut
Many actors and actresses, regardless of their marital status, depend on multiple sources of income to maintain their lifestyle because they not only need to act but also need to look good, especially when the paparazzi lens is on them.
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