R. Balki has been hating on the recent Bollywood blockbusters (Photo Credit – Facebook)
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Filmmaker R. Balki thinks the Bollywood films that have turned out to be blockbusters in recent years are boring. In an interview, the director expressed his views on films that have done massive business in the last five years. Balki, known for his unconventional and acclaimed films like Paa, Pad Man, and Cheeni Kum, said that the recent blockbusters neither have entertainment nor intellectual or artistic value. He went on to call these the ‘worst’ movies he has seen.
R. Balki says recent Bollywood blockbusters are the worst
R. Balki recently interacted at MIT World Peace University, discussing Bollywood blockbusters released in the last five years. He called them the worst films, “A few blockbusters that have happened in the last four or five years, or whatever, have been the worst films.”
Balki pointed out that the recent superhit films lack the Bollywood ‘masala’ and fun. “Not only from an intellectual or artistic point of view but also from the old entertainment, ‘masala, paisa vasool’ kind of a feel. Also, they’re damn boring. The fun has completely gone from our blockbusters,” he said.
The filmmaker further compared modern-day films with classics from the 1970s by Manmohan Desai. Explaining how recent films do not match up to movies like Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) and Naseeb (1981), Balki said, “It’s become like a project. There’s an economics associated with that stuff.”
He added how everything in a movie has boiled down to marketing these days: “They want to recover this, they’re putting this money, they’re pumping the marketing out. It’s marketing. It’s just driving people towards believing something is good. By the time people believe it’s bad, the film has made its money.”
Balki made his directorial debut with the 2007 romantic comedy Cheeni Kum, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu. He then directed films like Paa (2009), Shamitabh (2015), Ki & Ka (2016), and Pad Man (2018). His previous directorial venture was the 2023 sports drama Ghoomer, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Saiyami Kher, which failed to make a mark at the box office but received critical acclaim.
