Masalaseencom: 2021

2021 Entertainment and Bollywood Cinema: The Year of the Great Pivot

By R. Mehta, Senior Film Correspondent

Culinary program

If you were a fan of Sardar Udham, Sherni, or Shershaah, you saw the future: quiet, intense, and digital. If you were a fan of Sooryavanshi, you saw the past: loud, illogical, but communal. masalaseencom 2021

The story revolves around a young journalist, Ali, who in 2021, starts uncovering a series of mysterious events happening around the city. These events seem to be linked to an old, abandoned building on the outskirts of Karachi. As Ali digs deeper, he discovers that the building was once a hub for some of the most influential people in the country, who used it as a secret meeting place. 2021 Entertainment and Bollywood Cinema: The Year of

1. The Window is Dead: The 8-week theatrical exclusive window collapsed to 3–4 weeks. Movies are now episodic content.
2. Content is King (Not Star): Shah Rukh Khan didn't have a release in 2021. Yet, the year was fine. Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha was delayed. Nobody panicked. The audience moved to stories, not faces.
3. Regional is the New National: Bollywood must compete with Korean, English, and South Indian content on the same screen in a viewer's home. In 2021, Squid Game (Korean) was arguably bigger in India than any single Hindi film.

Statistical Snapshot: Bollywood in 2021

• Total Box Office (Hindi): Approx. ₹2,000 crore (down 60% from pre-COVID levels).
• Number of Theatrical Releases: Less than 100 (compared to 250+ in 2019).
• Digital Premieres: Over 75 major Hindi films released directly on OTT.
• Highest Grosser: Sooryavanshi (~₹195 crore WW).
• Most Viewed OTT Film (India): The Family Man S2 (not a film, but culturally dominant), followed by Haseen Dillruba.