Kanika Dhillon discusses Bollywood’s shift towards content-driven cinema at the 7th Indian Screenwriters Conference, highlighting the rise of original storytelling

The Hindi film industry is going through a churning as age-old ideas of movie-making are crumbling down, making way for edgier, daring, and original storytelling, says Bollywood’s trailblazing screenwriter-producer Kanika Dhillon. 

Dhillon, who has penned some of the game-changing titles of recent times, from Manmarziyaan, Kedarnath, Judgementall Hai Kya to the Haseen Dillruba franchise, was speaking at the 7th edition of the Indian Screenwriters Conference (ISC) hosted by the Screenwriters Association of India (SWA) on Friday.

“I would like to see the glass half full. The grammar of the industry is changing,” Dhillon said at the session The Mainstream Reality, where she was joined by Pathaan dialogue writer Abbas Tyrewala, Maddock Horror Comedy Universe writer Niren Bhatt and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 writer Aakash Kaushik. The session was moderated by Hitesh Kewalya, writer of Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. “When I came in it was a star-driven system.

The business would dictate what would be made and what not. That understanding has gone for a toss because now even a superstar cannot guarantee footfall in a theatre. Now, the fee structure is breaking. We’re in a content-driven business. We’re not making enough films. Nobody knows what’s working and the audience is asking for more.