Authority, Ambition, and the Truth About Hindi Cinema

There’s a popular narrative doing the rounds—that Hindi cinema has become purely money-oriented, lacking authority in filmmaking. Veteran actor Prakash Raj recently echoed this sentiment. While the concern comes from a place of love for cinema, it paints an incomplete picture of what’s really happening on the ground.

As Karan Johar rightly pointed out, Hindi cinema today is witnessing authority with ambition. Films like Dhurandhar and Border 2 (and several others in recent times) are not just box-office juggernauts... they carry a strong directorial voice, clear intent, and cinematic conviction.

Commerce and content are not enemies—when aligned, they elevate each other.

Cinema evolves. Industries expand, audiences diversify, and formats change.

To dismiss Hindi cinema as only money-driven is to ignore the filmmakers who are shaking the system with scale and soul.

Authority filmmaking hasn’t vanished—it has simply learned to speak the language of today’s audience. 

What’s your take—has Hindi cinema lost authority, or evolved with it? Share your view. 

- Manohar Chimmani