Zindagi mai bhi end mai sab theek ho jata hai. Happy Endings… Aur agar theek na ho to woh end nahin hai Dosto, Picture abhi Baki hai…
The same is true for my blog with the same name… ( The Beginning)… This blog is yet to be finished. For those who have not read it please read it here https://vibhir.wordpress.com/2020/05/31/badshah-sultan-and-the-shahenshah-the-beginning/
90s – The Khan Era…
The 90s belonged to the three musketeers of the Indian film industry… The name is Khan… Salman, Shahrukh and Aamir. 2 of them had already debuted with their blockbusters but the real Badshah was yet to mark his presence on the 70 mm big screen. This Deewana was a already a Fauji on the small screen.
The films of 90s had a great impact on my generation of kids… The boys were becoming men and girls were turning into beautiful girls… The testosterone level was on a rise amongst us and Pehla Nasha, Pehla Khuma was the focal point, specially coming from an all boys school… 
Raj debuted in 1992 and like an true entrepreneur took risks and did films like Baazigar and Darr… (93/94) and succeeded immensely. The movies were being watched primarily on VCR and there were emerging platforms to watch TV, DTH ie the Zee channel.
While the Mr Perfectionist continued his charm to steal “Dil” of all young and beautiful girls including my would be wife… His Jo Jita Woh Sikander still holds a special place in my heart. While these Khans were giving hit pe hit, the Sultan was failing miserably to capture the audience attention in the first five years of 1990s. The Prem of Maine Pyar Kiya had to wait till 1994 and reincarnate himself as Prem of Hum Apne Hai Kaun. I remember we had to literally push my Dad and Uncle to watch this film on the big screen.
Come 1995 and DDLJ arrived… woooh man… and how it arrived… I still remember watching the film on a 70mm theatre with friends and we had a blast. We went single in theatre but came out double… (with Simran in our heart)… SRK crowned himself as the Badshah of Bollywood. His fresh look did the trick. Everything was so perfect about that film… The new age Adi Chopra had infused a style which was so complete.
Then came Rahul in 1997… Naam to Suna Hoga… The Karismatic Madhuri along with Rahul. Dil to Pagal hai.. The song true to its essence .. Sari Sari Raat Jagata hai yehi…
Yet again Rahul came with Anjali and Tina in Kuch Kuch Hota hai… He confused us, whether Ek Ladka aur Ek Ladki sirf dost ho sakte hai kai nahi…
The film introduced a new form of dance… The Shamik Davar form… While everyone was going crazy about to learn this dance form , my pack of friends and I were going crazy about seeing this film more than twice… The adrenaline rush of testosterone had climbed the highest peak.. during that period.. above the Mount Everest…
While the Khans dominated the 1990s but there were some stellar performances parallelly. While Aashique made us inquisitive about that boy and girl behind the jacket, there was Maachis with its melodious songs and the Khiladi Kumar who enthralled the audience with his physical appearance.
2000s – The Roshan Era…
The decade where change was the only constant in life .. in my life and in bollywood life…
The 90s was truly a Khan era.. Literally no one challenged them… But things were different in 2000. Things were to change and a true superstar was born who took the 3 Khans head on… Single handedly…
Hritikh Roshan… the man with the sixth finger… took Bollywood apart with his first film.. Kaho Na Pyaar Hai… The film was a super duper hit and we saw two of him in same film… The perfect figure with a perfect body… ( I am not talking about Ameesha here) … The eternal Greek God of Indian cinema had arrived .. And he could dance too…
Mr Perfectionist was living up to his name and gave 2 back to back hits… Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan. Though DCH was a multi starrer but the show stopper was AK. Ashutosh Gowairkar the man from the nearby Nukkad had delivered a masterpiece – Lagaan.
I had also moved out from my nest to experience life, in search the reason for my existence in this universe. There was change in the style of viewing films also. Multiplexes had arrived in late 90s and consolidated their position in 2000s… The original 9 se 12 had changed to more complex timings to suit the need of a multiplex. The reel was digitalized including the sound system. From a 40 rupee ticket to an 400 rupee ticket… Everything had changed.
Those days I could not see much of movies as advertising kept me busy… day and night… My first visit to a multiplex was in year 2003. Everything was good about that visit except the movie… Main Prem kee Diwani Hoon…
From an independent and a carefree boy I graduated to a responsible and a loving husband… similar to SRK… from Badshah to Swades… Ours was a self arranged marriage courtesy our common cousin… and the only thing we did not match up was the choice of movies we both like ( till date its the same ). Once we argued over a Die Hard and Harry Potter. The argument led us to the same multiplex but different halls…
Back in my hometown… multiplexes very non-existent…so once on a regular visit I bought 60 Rs ticket to watch SRK’s OM SHANTI OM… I invited the whole city… The problem with the multiplexes is not the ticket… its the popcorn… The ticket prices varies with the show timings… but the popcorn prices dont.. Wohi 200 ka basic tub…
A typical movie costed around Rs 2000 / 2 persons. That included the mandatory popcorn or samosa and dinner at the food court. And if the movie turned out pathetic all your hard earned money would go down the drain… So we made a pact… it was either SRK or AK worth the spend.
PVR had the first mover advantage and captured the North market. It was Adlabs, INOX, the FUN and the FAME ruled the streets of Mumbai… Soon the second tier cities were in the radar of these companies and cities likes Nashik / Aurangabad opened up their multiplexes.
As the multiplexes expanded its geography… the single screen theaters were dying… The Government also played its part. Entertainment tax on single screens was 100% while multiplexes were given 3 years tax relaxation. While the single screen had to renew more than 20 licences every year, for multiplexes it was a piece of cake. The mall culture also helped multiplexes to thrive, the convenience factor. With increased earnings people did not mind spending.
And with all this happening Hrithik had been delivering a blockbuster every year since 2003. With Koi Mil gaya, Lakshya, Krrish, Dhoom 2, Jodha Akbar, Kites and Luck by chance the decade truely belonged to him.
Apart from these there are some movies that are worth mentioning: Veer- Zara, Hum Tum, Saathiya, Kal Ho Na Ho, DevDas.
2010 s – Content is King…
Be it a Singh or a Kapoor or a Khan… the content is ultimately the king… The movies in this era were high in good content. With the evolution of multiplexes it was not necessary that only KJos films occupied the space. There were very new directors who could showcase their creativity and were successful too at the box office.
Shoojith Sarcar, Anurag Kashyap, Hanshal Mehta, Imtiaz Ali made some fantastic movies. The audience doubled and we as a family tripled… The multiplex crowd gave birth to actors like Rajkumar Rao, Ayushman Khurrana, Irfan Khan etc etc… and we gave birth to Medhansh….
The Khans had came with a lifetime warranty in and were still Kicking hard and romancing heroines which were much younger to them. The Dips, The Kats etc…
The multiplexes had further consolidated its position and single screens very vanishing very fast.
And just as we thought multiplexes were here to stay… Content had a new address…
OTT…Over the top media…
The movie viewing experience was about to change and that too very dramatically… 2018 was the year when Netflix came to India with Scared Games and the rest is history.
This change is for Good, or Bad dont know… only time will decide but till than as Mr Raj Kapoor said
The show must to go on..
So keep watching… movies and this space and keep getting entertained…
Ja Simran Ja… Dekh le apni picture…