Bollywood star Ajay Devgn yesterday said the Hindi film industry is struggling to understand the evolved taste of the audience in the post COVID era, assuring that filmmakers are trying to figure out things.
The actor was speaking at the trailer launch of ‘Raid 2’, the sequel to his 2018 film ‘Raid’where he reprises the role of IRS officer Amay Patnaik in the sequel by Raj Kumar Gupta, a PTI report from Mumbai stated yesterday.
“We’re still struggling. We’re not sure what the audience would come in for and what not. But we think we have an idea of how the audiences have evolved and changed during the pandemic. Also, too much exposure of international. We are adapting to it and that’s how we are also changing… trying to figure things out,” the actor told reporters.
Devgn, 56, said the problem is not restricted to Hindi cinema. “It’s not that Bollywood films are not working. Films from all over the world… Some are working and some are not working. It could be Bollywood, it could be the South film industry or Hollywood. The situation is the same everywhere,” he added.
Asked whether ticket pricing was responsible for lower footfall, the ‘Singham Again’ actor said it wasn’t so. “I don’t think that is the reason because if the audience is coming they are coming at the same price. I think the audience is deciding what film to watch and not to watch…They want content,” he said.
According to makers, ‘Raid 2’ will celebrate the “unsung heroes of the Income Tax Department” and narrate a true case from their books. It will also feature Vaani Kapoor and Rajat Kapoor in pivotal roles with Riteish Deshmukh in the role of the antagonist.
The film is backed by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, and Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak under their banners T-Series and Panorama Studios, respectively. It will arrive in theatres on May 1.