Theatre audiences today are primarily in the 16 to 25 age group. They are the ones who give opening collections on release day.
The next tier of viewers, people in their 30s and 40s, step in for later shows if the film gets good word of mouth. Anyone above that age now largely prefers OTT platforms and home viewing.
So, what do these audiences really want? Do they care about multi starrers? Yes, they do, but the massive budgets burnt on such films rarely match the returns. That is why many big star projects are failing at the box office.
Hari Hara Veera Mallu is a colossal disaster. Despite Pawan Kalyan’s personal involvement in convincing distributors, the film ended up with huge losses as CGI and the content received backlash.
Kingdom of Vijay Deverakonda is another debacle after Liger. Collections stopped at around Rs 80 crore, leading to a big setback.
War 2 (NTR and Hrithik Roshan), made at a whopping Rs 450 crore budget. For breakeven it needed Rs 1000 crore worldwide, but the film is a failure despite Rs 150 crore net in India and Rs 12 crore in the US.
Rajinikanth’s Coolie is better than War 2 with Rs 200 crore plus net in India and Rs 50 crore US gross, but still struggling to justify its massive budget.
Mahavatar Narasimha (Animation) is made at just Rs 10 crore, collected nearly Rs 300 crore, a phenomenal profit margin. This proved that audiences care more about storytelling and elevation than star power.
Saiyaara (new faces, YRF gamble) is made at a budget Rs 50 crore, collections Rs 550 crore plus.
Talaivi Talaivan (Vijay Sethupathi) is a modest budget, yet touched Rs 100 crore.
Ultimately, audiences do not differentiate much between stars, small heroes, or animation. They support films they like.
For filmmakers, the challenge is not about chasing multi starrers, but about investing smartly. When safer, more profitable options like AI and animation are proving successful, it is time to rethink where money should be spent.