Actors Ditch Urban-Centric Films for Mainstream Flicks to Boost Appeal

Actors known mainly for upmarket, slice-of-life urban-centric films are making a clear shift towards mass-market genres to appeal to a broader audience base as the movie business struggles to reclaim its pre-covid glory.

- Lata Jha

While Rajkummar Rao will be seen in a gangster role in Maalik, slated for release in July, Ayushmann Khurrana will feature in horror comedy Thama, a genre that is the flavour of the season after successes such as Stree 2 and Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Both the actors are known for small-town comedies and films with social messaging such as Bala, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Srikanth and Badhaai Do.

Trade experts say the actors have realized post-covid that there is a need to improve footfall in single-screen cinemas and small towns and reach out to wider audiences as multiplex viewers are oversaturated with entertainment options, particularly those on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and ZEE5.