What genre of films is more likely to make an actor a superstar? - Page 3

Romance for younger stars

Action for older

But Amitabh is exception to it and struck gold with action when he was young. He never had to rely on romance.

Same goes for Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff, Shatrughan Sinha.

When an actor can stir the emotions of a viewer and that in huge numbers of viewers, he would become a star...when a viewer can identify with what the actor shows on screen (and that in huge number of viewers), nothing will stop him to become a star...when the actor can excell in different kind of movies and connect with many viewers in different genres, he will be a superstar.

Still, I maintain, that the genres most beloved by audience are romance and action...that's why the masala movies always - without exception - have these ingredients...and masala has become a typical Indian genre (it's not a worldwide one).

Btw, I don't think that "hero" and "star" have the same definition in the world of Cinema.

An actor and his work cannot be seen without the audience which gets to know him, imo, and in which time. Chaplin, e.g., has become timeless and a knowledge of worldwide cinema, but I guess that Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd are not as well known now and overall.

As for the action genre...actors like SRK who started in the late 80ies, early 90ies went through the evolution of how action-acting can be done, from the raw to the well choreographed to the VFX enhanced one. SRK and Tom Cruise have in common that they prefer action to romance but established their image differently...and in a different cinema-'landscape'.

SRK never really needed action. Baazigar and Darr were thrillers, and I realize he's another actor who became a star with this genre, but its romance which made him superstar.

Even Don films were more of a thriller than action, and they were not Blockbusters. He made a comeback with Pathaan which was an action film, but at this point in career, he didn't even need to make a comeback. He has already made his legacy and any more success is just cherry on cake.

I heard Big B got famous by doing angry man roles.

In romance, audience loves alpha heroes.

There still had been action in his thrillers as there had been fights (but okay, that's part of the masala concept...and thrillers also have action scenes).

Karan Arjun, Ram Jaane, Trimurti, Koyla, they all also had been action movies - more than romance... Baadshah, Josh, One 2 Ka 4, Don...action, action, action, action (+ something else). If there had not been YRF and Karan, he wouldn't have become a romantic hero.

Amitji's potential was another one, Dilip Saab's was another one, Dharmendra etc...they all had something where they excelled in...like in the next generation it was Salman and Aamir and others...

So, maybe, in Indian cinema, it's a kind of label you get and have to cater to...

Originally posted by: Clochette

There still had been action in his thrillers as there had been fights (but okay, that's part of the masala concept...and thrillers also have action scenes).

Karan Arjun, Ram Jaane, Trimurti, Koyla, they all also had been action movies - more than romance... Baadshah, Josh, One 2 Ka 4, Don...action, action, action, action (+ something else). If there had not been YRF and Karan, he wouldn't have become a romantic hero.

Amitji's potential was another one, Dilip Saab's was another one, Dharmendra etc...they all had something where they excelled in...like in the next generation it was Salman and Aamir and others...

So, maybe, in Indian cinema, it's a kind of label you get and have to cater to...

Bollywood movies generally have a mix of many genres, and in the old films they used to always end with a fight scene. Masala movies still have one dominant genre. Usually its action, especially in last decade masala movies and Bhai films, but its not always the case.

Chennai Express is masala, but the dominant genre in that movie is comedy. Action only happens in the climax. I won't call it action film. Ghajini was masala, but its more thriller than action. DDLJ had fight scene in the climax. Its still a rom-com, not an action film.

The movies you listed, only Karan Arjun, Ram Jaane and Don movies were clean Hits, with Karan Arjun being the only Blockbuster. Koyla, Badshaah and Josh were Average, although Koyla still was a huge grosser. Trimurti was Flop and One 2 Ka 4 was Disaster. So SRK didn"t benefit much from these movies.

His top grossers were always and mostly romantic films. Yes in Bollywood if you once get a label, its difficult to come out of it. Aamir so far has managed to stay away from any label and has given Hits across various genres. Hrithik and Ranbir also don't want to stick to a label but their career has seen many ups and downs because of it.

Audience just wants to see Hrithik in action avatar but he wants to experiment with films. Ranbir after YJHD could've done more rom-coms and established himself as romantic hero, but he experimented with so many genres and wasted his prime years.

I agree that raj kapoor copied charlie champlin. I don't consider him a great actor. RK as an actor was irritating.