If you deny the autocracy, you are a fool! Though ‘The Romantics, ’ it was a tad bit of ‘entitlement’ play. But the ‘almighty ness’ of YRF is what we can romanticise. The contribution of YRF is invincible. Changing an entire nuance of how an industry should work and germinating concepts of impact, YRF had the obvious success-sip in a country like India. No wonder it gave the industry some of the biggest hits of all time and made a ‘galaxy’ of its own ‘stars.’
From Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge to Dhoom to Ek Tha Tiger, Jab Tak Hai Jaan to this year’s Pathaan. YRF has gifted icons to India.
But what is up when this ‘galactic’ shine falls apart? YRF shows the world that it was a ‘shooting star.’ Fair to call the house the ‘knight in shining armour.’ And it does not get scared to give a ‘risky toss’ to uphold. It is where the ‘expansion’ looks very legit. But does that make it ‘infinite’? No! But indeed, it is something to heroicize.
‘Reanimating’ stars is what YRF is known for.. And how Yash Raj Films has come to the rescue of many a floundering star.
Remember how Amitabh Bachchan’s career got a boost after Mohabbatein? It had been a miraculous success for him. The film saved him from bankruptcy. YRF, however, got Junior Bachchan covered, too, with Dhoom! Shah Rukh Khan, who owned early 2023 with Pathaan’s success, had a series of flops in the past years. Rani Mukherji, Aditya Chopra’s better half, marked her efficiency with the films Mardaani and Hichki from her own home banner.
Now with Bhaijaan also failing to hit a huge box office score with Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, Salman Khan would also rely on Tiger Zinda Hai next to get his sheen back.
The becoming of ‘Banyan’ did not happen in recent years. It was back when people decided to leave Himanshu Rai-led Bombay Talkies. The shift was gigantic, with a myriad of artists of all forms. YRF then adopted a similar structure to what BT had put out in the 1940s.
However, with YRF, the shift has been significant in the history of Bollywood but mostly cocooned with old ‘existing ideas.’
Studios are recurrently the ones with the resources and guts to invest in cutting-edge and volatile ideas aided by the potential of tried-and-true methodologies. However, if those strategies do not yield the foreseen outcomes, studios could be hesitant about backing unorthodox abstractions, raising anguish about the coming decades of such abrasive projects. Additionally, there is a threat that production companies may well be curtailed by the prerequisites of well-established narrative structures, which may reduce their inventive autonomy and ability for authenticity.
This clowning rush for ‘validation’ and ‘revival’, therefore, somewhere traumatises us as cinema lovers, for we hope for the inclusion of a wholesome unconventional approach. But the train dawdles with YRF planning for ‘Dhoom 4’ with Aamir Khan. You can only hear sighs!
The crux is, if your career is dwindling, call up YRF, the folks know how to make good use of talent, more often than not.