Cinema VinesFilmmaker Nikkhil Advani, who has collaborated with Bollywood heavyweights such as Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Akshay Kumar and John Abraham, says that the era of star‑centric cinema is over. In a recent interview he explained that the equation between a star’s name and audience turnout has shifted, with emotional connection now playing a larger role in a film’s success.
Advani is currently working on a new web series, The Revolutionaries, which features a younger generation of actors. He cited Bhuvan Bam, who plays Rash Behari Bose in the series, as an example of how a performer can become a personal success for viewers. “Everybody feels that his success is personal. His success is their success,” Advani said, adding that this personal resonance motivates people to embrace and celebrate what they are watching.
The director also pointed to the Marathi hit Sairat to illustrate his point. Both lead actors were newcomers, yet the film reached mass audiences because it connected with them. “Both of them were new kids. There was no such thing as star power in that. But the film reached the masses as they connected,” Advani remarked.
He noted that contemporary audiences are demanding more authenticity in how films are marketed. “The audiences of today, or the kids of today, I think what they’re shouting loudly is that, ‘You can’t handle us.’ You can’t. So even marketing has changed in the sense, don’t tell us whether it’s good or bad, or it’s mind‑blowing or whatever. We will discover. Let us discover this. Tell us the story of how it was made,” he added.
Advani also reflected on how the industry has become increasingly driven by commerce. After two decades in filmmaking, he feels that creative expression has been eclipsed by a focus on numbers and box‑office returns. “When I joined filmmaking and knocked on the door of veteran screenwriter Saeed Mirza, I wanted to express myself through art and not through box office,” he said. He recalled Subhash Ghai’s observation that filmmaking has become like the share market, a comparison that still resonates with him. “I think what Subhash Ghai said, I was reading somewhere, he said that filmmaking has become like the share market. When did it become that?” Advani asked.
For the veteran director, the question is not to dismiss the business side of cinema but to understand when commercial value began to dictate how art is appreciated. He questioned how the public’s evaluation of films, performances and music has shifted toward commercial success, citing the example of A.R. Rahman’s music in Taal and asking, “When did the appreciation of a great piece of music become about… how did that change? How did it become a business?”
