Is there a perfect length for a Bollywood movie?

Is There A ‘Perfect Length’ For A Bollywood Movie?

Decreasing attention spans, financially astute producers and tighter scripts are all making Hindi films shorter now, say filmmakers and editors

https://www.filmcompanion.in/is-there-a-perfect-length-for-a-bollywood-movie/amp/

Excerpts:

Right now, with so many things vying for your attention, you’re constantly distracted. So you’ll invest in something that has a complete hold on your attention,” says director Gopi Puthran. He points to his own filmography as a sign of the changing times – at 1 hour, 48 minutes, Mardaani 2 (which he wrote and directed), is eight minutes shorter than its predecessor (which he wrote), released five years earlier. Most current films fall within the two-and-half-hour mark. Even the more recent historical epic Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, at a brisk 2 hours 11 minutes, stands out in a genre known for its sprawling runtimes. Just look at last year’s Manikarnika(2 hours, 28 minutes), Panipat (2 hours, 42 minutes) or 2018’s Padmaavat (2 hours, 43 minutes) by contrast.

If reviews for Mardaani 2 noted its tight screenplay, it’s because he and editor Monisha R Baldawa cut not just extra minutes but even stray seconds, scene by scene, during the edit.

Does this mean long films are having a hard time finding takers? Nope, and most filmmakers and editors cite the massive success of Kabir Singh (2019) to prove otherwise. The Hindi remake of a Telugu film, about a self-destructive surgeon, was 2 hours and 52 minutes long (still 14 minutes shorter than the original) and grossed around Rs 379 crore.