Indian audiences have proven time and time again that a film doesn't necessarily have to follow the rules of logic to be immensely successful. Some of the biggest blockbusters like Pushpa 2, Animal, Stree, KGF (Chapters 1 & 2), Baahubali (Parts 1 & 2) and RRR have areas that raises questions concerning logic, but audiences were willing to overlook them.
So what makes them work?
Conviction, according to Karan Johar.
Elaborating further, the Kuch Kuch Hota Hain director said that the biggest hits from the "best filmmakers" are built on conviction.
"When conviction comes to the forefront, even the audience believes in it,” said Karan in an interview with leading film critic Komal Nahta on his channel Game Changers.
Karan feels that problems arise when a filmmaker starts to have self-doubts and second-guess the audience, and put too much emphasis on logic.
“Look at the biggest films — Animal, RRR, or Gadar — they were made with conviction. If you can defeat a thousand people with a single hand pump, that’s conviction, right? Anil Sharma believes that Sunny Deol can do this. That is pure conviction. This is something I want every filmmaker to have in their DNA because then, I believe, we can make any film a blockbuster."
Karan says the blockbuster success of Stree was very inspiring. "It doesn't have a superstar or multiple superstars or the 'biggest' superstar in the country. It's all about the conviction of the producer and director and the lead cast members," he said.
Karan Johar's last directorial Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, starring Ranveer Singh and Ali Bhatt, did great business at the box office. The filmmaker, who made his directorial debut with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, also reflected on the political correctness in his films and attempting course correction through the "modern" storytelling approach in Rocky aur Rani, which was made for "modern audiences".
