The 6 genres Bollywood should explore in the coming decade
The 2010s saw the rise of mob dramas, horror comedies and historical epics in Hindi cinema. As we roll into the new decade, what genres should Bollywood explore next?
Comic-book action - B'wood has taken stabs at the superhero movie for years. Nothing’s ever clicked. The reasons are simple: few makers have mined the wealth of homegrown comic books & graphic novels.
That might change soon, though. Karan Johar is producing a Nagraj adaptation, with Ranveer Singh expected to star. There’s also Sanjay Gupta’s Rakshak, and a long-teased web series based on Doga.
Epic westerns - Abhishek Chaubey’s Sonchiriya and Navdeep Singh’s Laal Kaptaan were enthusiastic attempts at a revisionist western. Meanwhile, Karan Malhotra has been busy shooting Shamshera.
Shot in Ladakh, Shamshera, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt, promises scale and expanse, bringing back the glory days of Indian dacoit movies. More Red Dead Redemption 2 in the 2020s, please?
Political horror - Jordan Peele’s consecutive horror stunners (Get Out and Us) sparked a global movement. The waves reached India in the form of Dibakar Banerjee’s short film in Ghost Stories.
An apocalyptic survival thriller on the surface, the film weaves biting commentary about the present state of affairs- from lynching to internet shutdowns to communal violence. We definitely want more
Adult animation -Geetanjali Rao’s Bombay Rose opened to applause at the Mumbai Film Festival last year. The film, yet to release in theatres, sets the stage for mature and adult-oriented storytelling.
Some progress is already underway: Ronnie Screwvala has announced a series on 4 ‘badass’ anthropomorphic vigilantes, touted to be the Indian version of The Simpsons. Well, bring it on, we say!
Hard sci-fi: For a nation obsessed with the sciences, Indian cinema has mostly pussyfooted around the genre. There was the frivolous Mission Mangal, a film that reduced aeronautics to home science.
There hasn’t been a pathbreaking Hindi science fiction film ever — an embarrassment considering the genre’s popularity in Indian fiction.
There are a few isolated titles in the works, but nothing to be instantly excited about. Will the new decade bring out the Primers and Europa Reports of India?