Will Shamshera save Yash Raj Films?

Once the most prestigious production house in the Hindi film industry, Yash Raj Films finds itself in deep waters after two successive debacles, the Ranveer Singh comedy Jayeshbhai Jordaar and the Akshay Kumar historical (which experts think to be more hysterical than historical) Samrat Prithviraj.

All eyes are now on Yash Raj’s expensive dacoit drama Shamshera which is crucial not only to Yash Raj (after two debilitating debacles) but also to Ranbir Kapoor who returns to the screen after four years.

Ranbir’s last release was Raj Kumar Hirani’s Sanju in 2018. A lot has changed since then. The Pandemic has changed audiences’ tastes. Trade experts secretly wonder if audiences are interested in a dacoit drama any longer.

“The very concept is outdated. We had lots of very successful dacoit dramas in the 1970s and 80s like Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Heera and Chambal Ki Kasam. But audiences have moved on. The new dacoit dramas are the mafia crime thrillers,” says Bihar’s leading exhibitor Suman Sinha.

In fact, Yash Raj Films is counting on this very uniqueness to bring the audiences into Shamshera.

The banner desperately needs a big hit. Whether Shamshera will be the turn-around film for Yash Raj remains to be seen when it releases on July 22.