Why is Bollywood turning to re-releases of hit films?

Post the Covid pandemic, Bollywood has been struggling to recover to the pre-pandemic period has housefull bounties have been eluding the industry. Sure, there have been some exceptions such as Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Jawan’, ‘Pathaan’, Ranbir Kapoor’s ‘Animal’, Kartik Aaryan’s ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’, ‘Stree 2’ and of course, a plethora of South Indian films dubbed in Hindi, such as ‘RRR’, ‘Pushpa: The Rise’, KGF: Chapter 2’, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, among others.

There have been fewer films that have managed to cross the Rs 100-crore mark, and more than a few have had straight-to-OTT releases.

Currently, ‘Stree 2’, starring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, has been doing great at the box office, collecting almost Rs 600 crore. The second half of the year will see some more major releases lined up around the festivals, including ‘Singham Again’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ on Diwali, followed by ‘Chhaava’, ‘Baby John’, ‘Sitare Zameen Par’, and others.

On the other hand, the last 2-3 months have seen some earlier released movies getting re-released and doing quite well in their second innings and the industry is happy with the kind of response that these films are getting at the box office. It started with Imtiaz Ali’s acclaimed movie ‘Rockstar’ (2011) starring Ranbir Kapoor. The film got Rs 5 crore in its second run.

‘Laila Majnu’ (2018) starring Tripti Dimri and Avinash Tiwary, too, was released again and got good feedback from the audience. Apart from that, ‘Raja Babu’, ‘Golmaal Returns’, ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Partner’, ‘Dangal’, ‘Hum Aapke Hai Kaun’ have also been released once again on the big screen.

This week, riding on the wave of horror cinema, the makers of ‘Tumbbad’ are releasing their much appreciated movie in theatres. But there is no fixed genre that is being preferred, with R Madhavan, Saif Ali Khan and Dia Mirza starrer ‘Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein’ and Anurag Kashyap’s hit film ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ Part 1 and 2 lined up for release on August 30 in theatres.