Where have Bollywood's next generation of superstars gone?

Not to sound all doomsday on a Thursday, but has anyone noticed how there hasn't been a new movie superstar for a while now? This absence, from a firmament that just the other day manufactured superstars with the efficiency of a Maruti assembly line.

Sure, there's Prabhas and Allu Arjun shaking the moneymaker. And Ranveer Singh's gone full grunge in the two Dhurandhars. But superstars? It's the same roster of Khans with diminishing returns (where a falling rupee helps global earnings, though). And, no, Samantha Ruth Prabhu hasn't reached Deepika levels. For a culture that usually invents superstars if there aren't any, this is very, very strange.

We suspect this has nothing to do not with some nationwide Brechtian awakening - 'Unhappy the land that needs heroes,' the playwright had written - but with movies overwhelmingly going indoors and smaller screen. Having to now contend with Korean dramas and Marvel superheroes - all dubbed in a language the stream merchants provide for our comfort level - having a megastar emerge is seriously tough now.


Other 'cinematic narratives' like reels haven't helped. The 'superstar', once untouchable, is now just another influencer. The larger-than-life hero may have moved out from movies altogether to a different screen in the glam world of politics. For which, there's even a bunch of new anti-heroes in town.