5 Reasons Why Bollywood Is Turning To Youth-Oriented Films

Bollywood production houses and filmmakers are churning out more and more youth-oriented films of late. Komal Nahta explains why…

1. The Numbers: The youth comprise of a good chunk of India’s population (almost 60 percent). As such, they are the biggest target audience for films in general. Bollywood is only catching up with their biggest target audience.

2. Dispensable Incomes & Time: With college-going youth doing part time job or working at call centers, many of them now have dispensable incomes, which they readily spend on buying multiplex tickets, popcorn and soft drinks. As such, the youth have more time (and inclination) to go catch the latest films releasing every Friday.

3. Quick Bucks: Youth films generally mean quick business (for the producer/distributor), whereas family dramas or social films take longer to pick up at the box-office. That is because the youth is quick to pass judgment on a movie, so one knows where the film stands in the first weekend itself. On the other hand, a family film has to run longer at theatres, sometimes in spite of poor collections, to capitalize on word-of-mouth publicity.

4. Young Talent: A new crop of creative talent – directors, writers, technicians – that has been entering Bollywood in the last few years is young and vivacious. It speaks the language of today and tells stories that appeal to their own age group. As a result, you have more youth-oriented films.

5. Nothing Succeeds Like Success: More often than not, the stories that are doing well at the Indian box-office are either love stories or very contemporary ones. By their very nature, these subjects are youth-appealing. Hence, the influx youth-oriented films.