“Cinema Kahan Hai”: Nawazuddin Siddiqui on the recent big-budget hits

Mumbai (Maharashtra): Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one of the prolific actors in the film industry with many iconic characters and films written in his filmography. The actor has delivered his best with every performance, be it the rowdy gangster Faizal Khan in Gangs of Wasseypur or the goofy Pakistani journalist Chand Nawab in Bajrangi Bhaijaan. But what vexes the actor now are big-budget movies.

The actor slammed the recent big-budget movies in a recent interview with Bollywood Hungama and said that they are nothing but visual experiences. He asked where the true cinema has gone and thanked OTT platforms for being the place where he could watch good films. He further rhetorically asked if big-budget superficial films get released in theatre, will they give chance to small-budget good films? He said that it’s a struggle for good and modest small-budget films to get a good release.

When asked if the concept of the main lead is changing in commercial cinema, the actor replied, “I don't think it's changing...I played the lead in Manto too but how many people are there to watch it? I thought after the pandemic of two years people might have watched world cinema and there will be a change. But jiss tarah ki picture abhi hit ho rahi hai aisa lagta he ke salahiyat gayi tel lene, yaha entertain karo aur superficial level pe entertain karo logo ko (The films that are being hit now, it looks like skills be damned, entertain people on superficial levels).”

Recently, the theatres saw South India big-budget movies sweep the theatres with a raging storm. SS Rajamouli’s RRR released on March 25 earned ₹246 crores at the box office in four weeks. Meanwhile, Neel Prashanth’s blockbuster KGF: Chapter 2 earned a whopping ₹700 crore in the first week itself. These movies have a larger-than-life aspect to them that gives the public an adrenaline rush. They are marketed as and categorized as Masala entertainers and promise to deliver nothing more. Siddiqui’s accusations about these films may come from a personal experience but calling them superficial may be an unfair allegation.