Lost in translation: Bollywood struggles to speak Gen Z lingo

Bollywood is often blamed for failing to connect with its Gen Z audience. Industry insiders say the demographic doesn’t really feature prominently in the creative universe of the mainstream Hindi film industry.

Ameya Naik, film producer and founder, Fantasy Films, an event management company, notes that Bollywood has failed to catch their attention. “Today, Gen Z audiences have access to cinema and entertainment content from the world over.
Through short videos, they discover classics and indie films. But Bollywood is particularly not serving them. Bollywood content does not appeal to them.”

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For a generation that has its own language, uses lowercase or emojis as an aesthetic, believes in authenticity over performative-ness, Bollywood storytelling that follows an old template is a disconnect. Suniel Wadhwa, cofounder and director, Karmic Films, says, “Gen Z audience is not rejecting Hindi cinema. They are rejecting anything that feels formulaic or disconnected from their realities." According to him, what pulls them in is strong music, emotional integrity, cultural identity and fresh storytelling. “When these elements align, they respond immediately irrespective of scale or star power.”

According to a new study by entertainment and technology research firm NRG, 48% of Gen Z enjoy watching movies in theatres than at home. Industry observers also note that they love experiments in genres such as animation, horror, crime, history, mythology and comedy. A recent UCLA’s Center for Scholars & Storytellers’ Teens & Screens report
said that this group shows a distinct preference for animation. All this probably explains the recent suc-
cesses of horror comedy Munjya (2024), romantic drama Saiyaara (2025) and the animated Mahavatar
Narsimha (2025).

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Producer Rajesh R Nair says that a film cannot do a business of `500-600 crore without the participation of Gen Z audiences. “The point is that makers in Bollywood don’t make films keeping Gen Z in mind. What they value is authenticity in storytelling. If they get it, they accept a film.” Another hurdle producers face is marketing to Gen Z. Naveen Chandra, founder, 91 Film Studios, which produces and distributes regional films, says shorter attention span
and access to a huge supply of content are other key factors. “Gen Z are digital natives. Makers must come up with smart
marketing strategies which will create online buzz about their films,” he says.

Bollywood is going to unleash some big guns next year: from the epic Ramayana to Yash starrer Toxic, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War, fantasy-comedy Nagzilla, romantic horror comedy The Raja Sahab and SRK vehicle King. But
what will connect with the Gen Z audience? For now, the Gen Z-Bollywood jodi is quite distant from the proverbial happily-ever after ending.