Will cinematic universes focused on spies, cops, and the supernatural redefine audience expectations for entertainment?
There has been a lot of discussion about the growing cinematic universes in Bollywood over the past year. With the recent successes of Pathaan, Stree 2, and lots of universe films lined up, it looks like this is the future of the industry. While many of these movies have earned large collections at the box office, they also come with exceptions. Here are my thoughts on whether cinematic universes like spy, cop, and supernatural will change the way audiences look at entertainment.
Talking about the popular YRF Spy Universe, it began with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif’s Tiger franchise, expanded into War with Hrithik Roshan, and then Pathaan with Shah Rukh Khan. Most of them performed exceptionally well at the box office. But does this fact assure that future projects will be successful? One could say so since sequels do carry the hype from their previous parts and potential crossovers of their favorite characters excite the fans.
War 2 is highly anticipated, and so is the introduction of Alia Bhatt into the universe with Alpha. Tiger vs Pathaan is another film that carries blockbuster potential with SRK and Salman reuniting on the big screen. However, despite the Tiger franchise having credibility and the third installment releasing on a Diwali holiday, Tiger 3 failed to meet the expectations.
Within the Maddock Supernatural Universe, Bhediya also didn’t do exceedingly well. However, that could also be because the universe was not connected before the film’s release. Now, Bhediya 2 carries a lot of expectations. A low-budget film like Munjya emerged successful before Stree 2 broke all records. Horror comedy is currently the trending genre, and in my opinion, it might appeal to the audience in the upcoming years as well.
The Cop Universe, created by Rohit Shetty, is gearing up for a grand Diwali release with Singham Again. Many big names, including Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, and Jackie Shroff, are coming together on screen. The universe has seen success and is expected to continue its run.
With this, sequels, franchises, and universes do look like the flavor of the season. But films with comparatively lower budgets, like Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, Article 370, and more, have also done well.
According to me, it all comes down to the entertainment factor. While universes are certainly in trend and will continue to be in the near future, their success will ultimately depend on what they offer the audience.
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