Thread by @SharadBishnoi05

Bollywood is facing what was faced by many industries, Brands & Products in 1990s when country, under PVNR opened up its arms to overseas investments and loosened restrictions; all as part of Lewis Preston led IMF plan when Indian took to mid path of economic reforms.

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Well known Indian products & brands were pitted against world’s best brands & consumers were flooded with choices !

Better looking, better priced, updated technology, superior after sales & service & brands that were used worldwide; foreign products overnight edged out &

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shut shops of many. Some I can fondly remember were Allwyn, Ambassador, Priya, Rajdoot, Fiat, HMT, BPL (ultimately), Kelvinator, Texla, Keltron, Onida & many electronic products produced by state firms like Uptron, Keltron & so on.

These brands & products were exposed to

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fierce competition & better quality which some of our products could not match and were ultimately eased out.

I remember my friend proudly sending me a message “Ford Icon has arrived”, as he took delivery of his foreign brand car that day.

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Consumer, who now had choices & was wealthier wanted to experience the quality that was available elsewhere. “Body colour number” car by Premier Padmini no longer enticed him. He was ready to pay, wanted the best, which our research starved products & brands couldn’t offer.

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Netflix & Amazons of the world have arrived to challenge the Bollywood industry in a manner so reminiscent of 1990s

Onslaught of OTT platforms, available to consumer at monthly cost of 2 movie hall tickets, is unprecedented. Such is the relentless push of content by these

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players that even Hollywood is worried with their rise. Add to English content from Hollywood & UK; the superb international cinema such as Spanish, Korean, Japanese, French & their Series that are top quality for decades in Indian language you speak; the consumer is spoilt

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for choices.

One industry that is hit badly by COVID is film industry. And for last two years (approx) even the biggest fan of movies like Arvind Kejariwal, are also constrained to watch content at home. And suddenly they are exposed to top quality content that is

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latest & is being viewed by viewers globally. Voila, where have you been all these years; wow what quality & Damn, look at that rating on IMDB. Everyone is suddenly connoisseur.

Fate of some of the movies (& content) produced by Bollywood in last 1 year shouldn’t surprise

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anyone. It’s is 1990s for content viewer as he now has access to top end products from all over the world.

AK vs AK, Roohi, Gulabo Sitabo, Rasbhari, Chhapak, Thappad, Radhe, Coolie No 1, Stree, Roy & what not; all met the fate that should ring the alarm bell in ears of

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content producers as they can no longer dish out substandard quality to consumer.

Bollywood Movie World is no longer insulated & no one is coming to theatre so soon. And if content is to be viewed on OTT then tighten up belts, earn eyeball time of consumer with quality

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that is of international standard.

Big stars can no longer pull audience & their presence won’t matter if the quality of content is poor.

“Body coloured bumper car” on cheap price can’t be sold any longer ; Kia & Compass are here.

(Referencing Bollywood only)

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