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Aamir Khan says Hindi films are struggling as 'they've forgotten their roots': South films are mass, very hard-hitting
Aamir Khan believes that Hindi filmmakers have catered to a niche audience, which is why they are struggling today at the box office.
Actor Aamir Khan has critiqued Hindi filmmakers for ‘forgetting their roots’, ascribing that to the reason why Hindi films are not doing well at the box office, even as their South counterparts mint money. (Also read: Aamir Khan reveals Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan hits that he rejected)
Aamir Khan on Bollywood
On Sunday, Aamir was speaking at the press conference of PVR-INOX's Aamir Khan: Cinema Ka Jadugar, a special film festival commemorating Aamir's contribution to Indian cinema. Here, he said the reason behind the success of South cinema lies in its directors tapping into strong emotions in their stories, something filmmakers up north have forgotten.
Veteran lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar, who moderated the session with Aamir, asked the actor why South films are working in theatres while Hindi films are struggling.
“One of the reasons also is that writers or directors in Hindi perhaps have been trying to entertain an audience which is slightly finer. They've forgotten their roots. There are finer emotions, then there are baser emotions. Revenge is a strong emotion. But doubt is a light emotion; it's a less attractive emotion. Anger, love, revenge. We (Bollywood) are choosing to talk about different aspects of life. We're not sticking to the broader strokes,” Aamir told reporters.
Aamir Khan on why south films are working
The actor, who also owns the production banner Aamir Khan Productions, believes the South is giving more space to massive films through single screens, whereas Hindi filmmakers are catering to multiplex-going audiences, which represent a smaller section of viewers.
“When multiplexes came, there was a talk in the film industry that the audience is changing and its (multiplex) audience is different. It (The conversation) had started growing very strongly. Then, there was a certain genre of film that was being made, which was called multiplex films. This is a multiplex film, and this is a single-screen film. The South films are what we typically used to call single-screen films, mass, very hard-hitting, very broad strokes. I think maybe the Hindi filmmakers tried to go more towards multiplex films,” he added.
Aamir and Javed Akhtar are collaborating next on the actor's upcoming film production, Lahore 1947, headlined by Sunny Deol.
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