Ditching larger-than-life characters and unrealistic storylines, Hindi cinema superstars have undergone changes and are now focussing more on the life of the "aam aadmi" and celebrating their joys and sorrows on the big screen.
The wave of regular characters taking over the silver screen is an important change. The "boisterous" hero is now in the mood to be just a "regular" person.
Most recent to play the regular Indian on screen was A-lister Hrithik Roshan, who played the role of Patna-based mathematics genius Anand Kumar in "Super 30".
"The change is actually is in the fact that the way we are detecting our content now. It's becoming more real now and people are connecting to it. The melodrama is gone out even in the acting it is very real and that change is making the content seem more solid. These films now are doing really well," Hrithik told IANS.
"So, what is going to happen is that people (filmmakers) are not going to worry about what they are making as long as the way they are presenting it is real and impactful," he added.
Hrithik it's a good change.
"So, a lot of different kinds of films will be made and would not run 10 years back will become super hit now. So, a lot of things open up. Many more stars will emerge. There will be a lot more hit films, lot more filmmakers who will get confidence and encouragement to make their kind of films. So, I think it is a good change," he said.
Actor Ayushmann Khurrana made his Bollywood debut in 2012 with "Vicky Donor" and has managed to play the average Indian guy since through out portraying that which has not only earned him awards but a place in every Indian's heart.
Ranveer Singh won the hearts of the audience with his rawness of a typical Indian boy Bittoo in his debut film "Band Baaja Baaraat" and a street rapper trying to making it big in "Gully Boy".
Even actresses are moving away from portraying just an eye candy and are marching towards playing just a simple and regular girl on the screen.
For example, actress Bhumi Pednekar made her in 2015 with "Dum Laga Ke Haisha", where she played a small town Indian girl named Sandhya struggling with weight issues. She then throughout played the regular relatable Indian girl in films like "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha" and "Shubh Mangal Saavdhaan".
After which actresses like Kriti Sanon, Taapsee Pannu and Yami Gautam followed suit.
Bhumi finds it a wonderful change.
"It's a welcoming change because people want to see stories that are happening amongst us, stories that are real. They want certain amount of relatability with what they are watching on screen because the whole fantasy genre of Bollywood has changed.
Today, a common man can aspire to do big and better and that's the beauty of the cinema I do. It's relatible," Bhumi told IANS.
Some celebrities like Ranveer and Deepika Padukone seem more close to being regular because of their banter and romance-filled PDA on social media.
Actors including Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar seem like just regular daddies who flood social media with photographs of their children.
(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at [email protected])
