Recently, it has seemed like Indian cinema is going through a phase when the box office functions as a battlefield of ideologies. The formula for success appears deceptively simple: Identify a polarising headline, wrap it in a cinematic jacket of high-pitched emotion, and wait for the digital bonfire of boycotts and mandates to ignite the ticket windows. This is the era of the headline film, a period where the strength of a screenplay often matters less than the intensity of the social media debate it could spark.
However, as we survey the theatrical landscape in the first two weeks of March, the reception of The Kerala Story 2 suggests a profound shift. The sequel, expected to ride the same wave of controversy that propelled its 2023 predecessor to a staggering ₹300 crore, is currently struggling to make the expected numbers. Trade reports indicate the film concluded its first week with a total India net collection of approximately ₹22.34 crore, a staggering 72 per cent drop compared to the opening week of the original.
In stark contrast, the cultural conversation has migrated toward a different kind of event. On March 6, Saurabh Shukla’s Jab Khuli Kitaab arrived on ZEE5. Starring veterans Pankaj Kapur and Dimple Kapadia, it is a story not of national conspiracies, but of a marriage unravelling over a long-buried secret.
The juxtaposition is impossible to ignore. We may be witnessing the de-influencing of the Indian film industry, a moment where the audience threshold for outrage has peaked, and the hunger for mid-budget comfort has returned with a vengeance.
The law of diminishing returns on outrage
For several years, the industry operated under what could be termed the Outrage Economy. If a film could make enough people angry, or defensive, it was a guaranteed hit. Major releases like The Kashmir Files (2022) and The Kerala Story were treated as social litmus tests rather than pieces of art.
But shock value is a depreciating asset. By 2025, the market was saturated with various “Files” and “Stories” that attempted to replicate the formula with diminishing returns. The result appears to be total audience fatigue. Eminent critics have noted that the narrative depth in these sequels has worn thin.
The data supports this psychological exhaustion. While the overall Indian box office grew to record heights in 2025, that growth was not driven by polarising dramas. Last year’s The Bengal Files struggled to cross the ₹16 crore mark worldwide, signaling that the outrage which once acted as free marketing has now become noise that audiences are actively tuning out.
The return of the middle-of-the-road cinema?
If the headline film is on the decline, the vacuum is being filled by middle-of-the-road cinema, films that occupy the sophisticated space between the ₹500-crore CGI spectacle and the niche indie.
The release of Jab Khuli Kitaab is the poster child for this shift. It represents a return to the human story where the stakes are deeply personal rather than geopolitical. The conflict is not about the fate of a nation, but the sanctity of a living room. Reviews have praised the film for its soothing, tranquil tone, highlighting that a director needs solid, engaging writing rather than earth-shattering budgets to hold an audience.
This humanisation of the screen is a direct response to the clinical, often aggressive tone of polarised cinema. Audiences are increasingly seeking mid-budget comfort movies that offer a sense of recognition rather than a call to arms. We saw the early seeds of this shift in 2025 with films like Sitaare Zameen Par, which leaned into emotional authenticity rather than viral hashtags.
Perspective over polemics
Sophisticated critique has always favoured the interiority of a character over the exteriority of a movement. The fundamental flaw with purely polarised cinema is its frequent lack of an emotional hook. Without a personal connection, a movie becomes a series of intriguing visuals or arguments rather than a story.
When films like the recently released Subedaar, starring Anil Kapoor, successfully blend action with the internal struggles of a war-weary hero, they prove that even large topics can be effectively conveyed through a small lens. It is the intimate, lived in moments that resonate long after the credits roll.
A new equilibrium
As we move further into 2026, the industry is recalibrating. The massive spectacles scheduled for later this month, featuring high-octane sequels like Dhurandhar 2, show that the blockbuster remains a permanent fixture of our culture. But the mass outrage film is losing its grip.
The de-influencing of the audience is a sign of a maturing market. In 2023, many went to the theater to take a stand. In 2026, they are going to the theater to take a breath. As the theaters for polarising sequels remain quiet, and as appreciation builds for the domestic honesty of films like Jab Khuli Kitaab, the message from the Indian viewer seems to be: Give us the human, and you can keep the headline.
Rana is a Gurgaon-based writer and research scholar at MDU, Rohtak
