Mumbai: Actor Emraan Hashmi says the state of theatrical business is worrisome as audiences are turning up to watch only event films and not mid-size movies, which is why his rejection process has become more elaborate.

Hashmi, who will next be seen in Netflix's series "Taskaree" as a customs official, had two theatrical releases, "Ground Zero" and "Haq", in 2025.

"The thing is, it has become extremely difficult for theatrical films to put stuff out there. There is a lot of stuff that you feel should go on OTT because it is concept driven," the actor told PTI.

The actor said he has been careful in selecting projects as he does not want to repeat what he has already done in his career of over 25 years.

"It has become even more difficult right now when you talk about theatricals. Everyone is, to put it mildly, scared of picking up something that is theatrical and weighing the pros and cons of what would work and what would not work. So, when something explosive comes in theatrical or OTT, I pick that up... The rejection process is a little more elaborate," he said.

According to Hashmi, there is only four to six weeks between a film's theatrical release and its arrival on OTT and if the film does not have hit songs, romance or something more for the younger audiences, it becomes difficult to get footfalls in theatres.

"... They’re like, ‘We will watch this at home in like four to six weeks'," the actor said when asked to share his opinion on Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio's statement that theatrical business was in a "worrisome state".

"It is worrisome. If you see his latest film, ‘One Battle After Another’, it tanked. Probably ten years back, it wouldn't have. But right now, that film has become, ‘Let's watch it on OTT. It seems like that indie film’. But that wasn't the case early on. So, it has become very difficult," he said.

The actor said it has become expensive to watch a movie in a theatre with family as it would cost over Rs 5,000, if one spent money on tickets, popcorn and drinks.

"You have a huge number of films and they do well. But that is not really taking the business any further, you need the mid-size films, you need more films to run down the line through the year, that is not happening. Only event films either come out on Christmas, and Diwali," he said.

The actor rose to prominence in 2000s when many of his films including "Murder", "Awarapan", "Zeher", "Aashiq Banaya Aapne", "Jannat", "Raaz 2" and “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai” did well theatrically.

Hashmi said the difference between then and now is that the filmmakers were catering to a larger chunk of the population, which they are no longer doing.

"We are only doing it (releasing films) for the elite right now. Where is the common man, where is the avenue, is there any single screen theatre? Aren't there any good premium theatres for the single screen audience? That audience is completely gone. They will probably collect their funds to go and see something on Diwali. They can't afford a multiplex thing.

"And you don't have any single screens, only a few left like Gaiety, Galaxy, and a couple of them. But if you want those guys to go and purchase (tickets) every Friday, you need to make it approachable for them. You have completely alienated the entire section. I’ve seen it happen from 2012, when people wanted to appease the multiplex audience... So, your narrative became more elite driven, it connected with them. It was not rooted in desi stories. So you lost them conceptually and from a price point."   The 46-year-old actor's short appearance as an intimacy coach on "The Ba***ds of Bollywood" became a viral sensation and the actor hopes it helped act as a bridge to connect him to Gen Z audience who may not have grown up watching his movies.

"It is just that additional thing of virality. I don't know about how this affects going forward. But the way I see it, it was the voice of Gen Z. Then comes the question of relevance. To an audience that hasn't grown up seeing you from the onset, they discover you somewhere down the line because they are connecting more with younger heroes.

"So, it pitches you to people who have woken up to you right now. You’ve to support it with projects that you do. It is like a foundation. How that affects things later on depends on how things play out in ‘Taskaree’ and future projects,” he said, adding there isn’t significant change in terms of work offers post the release of “Ba***ds of Bollywood”.   The actor is thrilled about his upcoming series, “Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web”, which is created by Neeraj Pandey of “A Wednesday”, “Special 26” and “Baby” fame, and directed by Raghav Jairath.

The show revolves around a dedicated customs officer, played by Hashmi, and his team as they take on a notorious smuggler (Sharad Kelkar).

Hashmi said he and Pandey were set to collaborate on a movie a decade ago but the project didn't materialise. It is fate that has brought them together for "Taskaree".

“I've actually had a lot of offers in OTT in the past one and a half years. This is what I felt was extremely novel and different. That is why I took it up,” Hashmi said.

“Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web”, also starring actors Amruta Khanvilkar, Nandish Singh Sandhu, Anurag Sinha, and Zoya Afroz, is set to premiere on Netflix on January 14. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline ,no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)