Summary:
Mumbai, Jul 3 (PTI) Actor Varun Dhawan says believes there has been a decline in the number of big-scale Hindi commercial films as Bollywood is largely "influenced" by western cinema.
Dhawan, who has starred in mainstream entertainers such as "Main Tera Hero", "Dishoom" and "Judwaa 2", said the film industry is in a transition phase during the pandemic where everyone is unsure about the kind of films that will work at the box office.
"We have stopped making big-scale, masala family entertainers because we are too influenced by the West...
To begin with, no one knows what type of films will work.
From the biggest producers to trade people, no one does and still every week we will come out and give gyaan (knowledge) that this works, that works," Dhawan told PTI.
The actor returned to the big screen with Dharma Productions" "Jugjugg Jeeyo", two years after his last theatrical outing "Street Dancer 3D".
The Raj Mehta-directed comedy, backed by Karan Johar, has raised more than Rs 60 crore at the domestic box office and Rs 100 crore worldwide since its release on June 24.
Dhawan said the production house and his "Jugjugg Jeeyo" co-stars Anil Kapoor and Kiara Advani have been always associated with family entertainers as they too believe in the genre.
Advani"s other theatrical release, horror comedy "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2" has emerged as one of the biggest Bollywood hits of the year.
"The world has changed, nobody knew COVID-19 was coming.
It hit us, everything went for a toss.
So you have to do what your conviction says.
"Dharma believes in family entertainers, Karan Johar believes in this genre, he has always done it.
I believe in this genre, I have always done these films...