What’s common between the recent releases All India Rank and Laapataa Ladies, and 12th Fail, which released late last year? Besides the depiction of hope and dreams on screen in quotidian milieus and ordinary lives, the three mid-budget films have found takers aplenty among cinema-goers. Kaagaz 2, starring the late Satish Kaushik, too, is slated to release later this month.

Ask why these films are doing well and 12th Fail director Vidhu Vinod Chopra notes, “These days, many get caught up in assembling a project without focussing on its core idea. But if you know your intent well, write a good script and make an honest movie irrespective of the budget, it’ll do well.”

Mid-budget movies and big-budget entertainers have coexisted earlier, too. But in 2015-16, after the mammoth success of the Baahubali franchise and the coincidental advent of global streaming platforms in India, the very subjective appeal of a film started getting determined by objective box-office figures.

Stressing that 12th Fail, made on a budget of Rs. 20 crore, is an exception, Laapataa Ladies director Kiran Rao says, “Honestly, I don’t think there’s much of a shift yet, but individual conviction and risk-taking, like in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s case. These are all experiments — some will be successful, some won’t,” says Rao.

“For this generation, I’d call it a ‘middle-of-the-road’ trend with relatable stories, focussing on the lives of the Indian middle class,” says Varun Grover, whose directorial debut All India Rank was made on a budget of (approx) Rs. 5 crore, adding that while the pandemic may have caused ‘revenge viewing’ to take precedence over ‘relatable viewing’, things are looking up.

Raising a pertinent point about personal spending and the future of the mid-budget film, Rao opines: “The audience is interested in different kinds of films, but we have to deliver them at the right price point. They love the trailer but sometimes, the experience of going to the cinemas is so expensive. If we can diminish those challenges, then we’d be able to make any kind of film reach the audience.”

Good content always finds viewers, irrespective of the budget. [But] in many cases, with all new names in the cast, it’s a challenge to find a studio, a release date and audience.

- Taran Adarsh, trade analyst

When big-budget films aren’t planned for theatres, makers get the opportunity to release these films, thereby gaining confidence.

- Girish Johar, producer-trade expert

We were in a phase where we were making anything and everything. It’s just the course correction of our industry and our audience towards what’s always been critical: the script and the story.

- Akshaye Rathi, distributor