Jun 13, 2026 8:00pm IST
‘Neerja’ Director Ram Madhvani: ‘Movies Aren’t Dead, They’re Going Through An Identity Crisis in India’ (EXCLUSIVE)
The Indian film industry loves a successful formula, like “Dhurandhar”, that it can replicate. However, the world today is unpredictable. Audience tastes are changing faster than a filmmaker can say “Action!” As a result, the industry seems to be trying to find new voices and avenues for box office success. But filmmaker Ram Madhvani has one request for its critics — “Don’t say the movies are dead. Because they’re not. It’s just a rough patch.”
In an exclusive chat with Variety India, the “Neerja” and “Aarya” director suggests everyone, from audiences to critics, to cut the film industry some slack and not relentlessly berate it for its failures.
"Everybody over here is passionate about cinema. Do we want to go and see movies and forget ourselves, remember ourselves, laugh and cry? So, in that case, why don't we currently? Ryan Gosling says, ‘It is my job to make you come to the movies.’ You may or may not want to, that’s okay. But at the same time, is it anyone’s job to diss movies? Is it anyone’s job to turn around and say, 'Movies are dead’?”
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The "Dhamaka” director further elaborates on a statement he had made in previous interviews on the film industry needing a breather, not from making movies but from incessant critics who want to declare an apocalypse.
“Maybe the breather we need is not from the industry and making movies, but for everyone to just calm down. We have seen enough people out there who are doing great work. We are all worried, anxious, upset and trying to find various ways to try and fix it. That is our job. And I think we are all in that same boat,” he says.
He adds, “I do get sort of hassled (with negative reviews). But at the same time, I am learning from what is being said. So please go out there and say that about the work. But don't say movies are dead, because they aren’t. However, at least in India, they are going through an identity crisis.”
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When asked if there’s a way out, Madhvani cites insights gained from his work in the advertising industry to offer a plan of action. It begins with understanding the shift in audience tastes and then working backwards from the desired outcome.
“I keep thinking, maybe if I made 'Neerja' today, would it be something that the audience would come to see? And this is the question that we have to ask ourselves. Recently, I was in an advertising briefing session where they were telling me that the tastes of consumers have changed. And now I have to fit my work to that audience's taste. So what I would like to do is backcast to figure out.”
“All of us need to think, ‘Where is this taste shifting to? Why is it shifting? What do we do to be in tune with that shift?’ But that takes its course. The intention is there. But it takes time to do that. For a ship or a car to turn takes time. But while it is turning, allow it to turn,” he concludes.
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