Alia Bhatt recently spoke about the need for more inclusive storytelling in Indian cinema during her visit to the Cannes Film Festival. The actress questioned why many Bollywood films are still largely made keeping male audiences in mind and said films should focus more on storytelling rather than targeting one specific gender.
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Alia Bhatt spoke about how films with strong female audiences have achieved major success globally. Referring to movies like Barbie, Wuthering Heights and The Devil Wears Prada, she said, “When I look at the landscape, I think we’re in a very fascinating time today… If you take a look at the box office, you’ll see the films that have done phenomenally well: Barbie, Wuthering Heights, and The Devil Wears Prada.”
She further added, “These are a few; I am sure there are way more, and their main audience, perhaps, was women. Women were showing up, watching these films, which have now become massive hits.”
Alia then raised concerns about conversations often heard in Bollywood regarding box office numbers and audience demographics. According to her, there is a common belief in the industry that around 75% of moviegoers in India are men, which leads filmmakers to create content aimed mainly at male viewers.
Speaking about this, she said, “But in India, when we talk about box office and numbers, there is a conversation that comes up pretty often, which is 75% of the movie-going audience is male, so we need to cater to the masses. This conversation comes up quite a bit. I wonder if we are catering just to the men, then what happens to the women?”
The actress also spoke about the importance of making films that appeal to everyone equally. She said, “I am not saying to alienate the men, but why do we have to alienate anyone? Why do we have to cater to one gender? Why can’t we make movies that are gender-agnostic, where the storytelling takes centre stage? So, whether it stars a man or a woman, that should not matter. It is the storytelling that should matter. I’m just hoping we have more of that.”
On the work front, Alia Bhatt will next appear in Alpha alongside Sharvari and Bobby Deol. She will also reunite with Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal in Love and War directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Reports also suggest she may join Tumbbad 2, although there has been no official confirmation yet.