5 min readAug 7, 2026 06:20 AM IST First published on: Aug 7, 2026 at 06:20 AM ISTThe phenomenal success of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, across Indian theatres, could easily leave one wondering whether Indian cinema is slowly losing its ability to produce films that capture the public imagination on a similar scale. That concern may be valid, but only if we continue to see Bollywood as representing the entirety of Indian cinema.In fact, at its emotional core, The Odyssey itself unfolds very much like a Tamil masala film. A hero’s long journey home, emotional dilemmas and larger-than-life adventures are themes Tamil star vehicles have comfortably embraced for decades. The language and scale may be different, but the emotional grammar is surprisingly familiar. When Odysseus finally returns home, he might as well be Rajinikanth walking into Kabali (2016) to declare, “Tell them I’m back.”AdvertisementHindi cinema’s biggest successes this year have largely stayed within familiar comfort zones. Whether it is yet another border-conflict spectacle in Dhurandhar: The Revenge and Border 2, or the dependable cocktail of horror and comedy in Bhooth Bangla and Dhamaal 4, Bollywood seems increasingly reluctant to venture beyond formulas that have already been tested, approved and monetised.Of course, popular cinema has always relied on familiar genres and crowd-pleasing tropes. The problem begins when an industry becomes so risk-averse that it edges towards irrelevance. The films may become bigger, louder and technically slicker, but the emotional and thematic territory they explore continues to shrink.But if we look beyond the Hindi film industry, regional cinema continues to be wonderfully alive. Tamil cinema’s biggest hit this year, Karuppu, uses the folklore surrounding the village deity Karuppusamy to examine the apathy of the Indian judicial system. It could easily have settled for being a conventional courtroom drama. Instead, it pits the idea of justice against God himself, making the film even more compelling as a mainstream entertainer.AdvertisementMalayalam cinema, meanwhile, remains fascinated by ordinary lives. Vaazha II: Biopic of a Billion Bros transforms a familiar coming-of-age story into an emotionally resonant exploration of modern youth, friendship and the often uncomfortable transition into adulthood.Telugu cinema, often unfairly reduced to larger-than-life commercial entertainers, also offers pleasant surprises. Peddi packages a reflection on systemic oppression within an unapologetically populist sports drama. Maa Inti Bangaaram, on the other hand, follows a woman struggling to reconcile a violent past with the ordinary life she desperately wants to protect. Both films work as mainstream entertainers while refusing to become emotionally simplistic.None of these films are masterpieces. Neither are they flawless. But they all make an earnest effort to explore newer themes and discover fresh ways of telling stories. That willingness to take creative risks is perhaps their greatest strength.Regional cinema today seems far more comfortable asking uncomfortable questions. It draws more freely from local folklore, literature, politics and lived experience. It trusts audiences to embrace stories deeply rooted in specific cultures without endlessly chasing a mythical “pan-Indian” template. Ironically, it is this very specificity that often makes these films feel more universal.Bollywood, meanwhile, seems trapped in an endless pursuit of the next safe blockbuster. Somewhere along the way, “pan-Indian” has become shorthand for sanding away every regional texture until a film feels as though it could belong anywhere, and therefore nowhere in particular. The result is scale without distinctiveness.This is not to suggest that Bollywood has stopped making good films altogether. Every industry produces both mediocre films and occasional gems. Bollywood still possesses unmatched resources, visual polish and marketing muscle.you may likeBut cinema has never been remembered for technical excellence alone. Audiences return to films because they recognise themselves in them, because they are surprised by them, or because they leave the theatre carrying an idea that wasn’t there two hours earlier. That willingness to surprise feels far more abundant outside Mumbai today.Perhaps, this is a healthy development for Indian cinema. For decades, the creative conversation largely flowed in one direction, from Bollywood to everyone else. Increasingly, it is regional cinema that is setting the agenda, discovering fresh storytelling voices and proving that commercial success and creative ambition need not be mutually exclusive.The question isn’t whether Indian cinema can still dream big. It is obvious that it can. The real strength of Indian cinema lies in the many different languages that it dreams in.The writer is a Chennai-based filmmaker