After the string of hits - Pathaan, Gadar 2, and Jawan last year, the current state of cinema is different. This year has brought a noticeable dip, with only a handful of films managing to perform well. Why are audiences finding it harder to connect with films these days? And where have all the mass entertainers disappeared to?

Anil Sharma, often tagged as a director who makes mass entertainers, spoke to us about what goes into making a mass entertainer and says there is nothing wrong with a film being categorised as such. He explains, "We are not here to teach science or law - that's what colleges are for. I think a filmmaker's job is to entertain. Action, music, dance, romance - yehi mera motto hai. To make a film larger than life, to present a story that isn’t even real and still make it believable for the audience, is not easy."

"Hand pump ukhaada nahi ja sakta, lekin logon ko itna believe karwa dena ki yeh sach hai - yeh aasaan kaam nahi hai, yeh difficult kaam hai. Yeh kaam Manmohan Desai ji karte thay, K Asif ne Mughal-e-Azam mein kiya, Mehboob saheb ne Mother India mein kiya, aur Sippy saheb ne Sholay mein kiya. Yeh bahut mushkil hota hai."

He adds, "We (He and his team) see ourselves as stress-busters. Whether we get validation from certain people or not isn’t important - what matters is the love we get from the audience. My next film, Vanvas, will connect with 600 crore people because every family has those members."

In a recent conversation, he spoke about into what goes into making a mass entertainer.

Whether it’s Gadar, Gadar 2, or The Hero: Love Story of A Spy, Anil Sharma's films have dialogues that stick with audiences years after the credits roll. But according to Sharma, the secret lies in never writing with the audience in mind. “I don't write scenes hoping for applause,” he says.

He says, "The story should carry that emotion. Jab mujhe laga ki kahani mein woh emotion hai jo 600 crore logon tak jaa sakta hai, tab main us kahani mein gaya. Agar aapki kahani mein woh emotion hai, toh woh audience tak zaroor pahunchta hai. Maine kabhi yeh nahi socha ki main scene taaliyon ke liye likh raha hoon. Scene ki requirement aur kahani ki zarurat ke hisaab se hi har scene likha."

Sharma’s films, especially Gadar, have often faced criticism for being overly jingoistic. What does he think about this? He responds, "When I first heard this, I looked up the meaning of jingoism. Main iss desh ka rehne wala hoon, aur apni bhavna ko waisa hi dikhata hoon jaise main sochta hoon. Jo log subtle sochte hain, main unki terah nahi dikhata. Main waise hi film banata hoon jaise ek aam aadmi sochta hai. Na main khud vishesh aadmi hoon, na vishesh logon ke liye film banata hoon. Jo meri film ko jingoistic sochte hain, kripya na dekhein, kyunki yeh film unke liye nahi hai."

"When I started making films, even VCRs didn’t exist. When I decided to make Hukumat (1987) with the idea that I was making it for the masses, it became a turning point in my life. Hukumat gave me a tag, and then with Gadar, I got another one,” Anil Sharma shares.

“Now, when I look around, technology has advanced, but somewhere we’ve fallen behind in terms of content. Kahin na kahin kuch gadbad hai - there are so many talented people here, but they aren’t able to work effectively within the system.. Koi unbalance toh hai jiski wajah se filmein utni safal nahi ho pa rahi hain aaj. Last year, we saw some good performances at the box office, but this year things look different."

He continues, "Films are performing only in segments. It seems like some directors and actors are making films only for a specific target audience instead of making film for the entire country. And even when they try to make those films, perhaps the corporate side isn't supporting them. I don’t know exactly why, but the kind of momentum we once had - 10-12 blockbusters a year - isn’t there at present."

Anil Sharma shares a long-standing relationship with Sunny Deol. What he believes makes the actor-director dynamic work, he says, “Honesty. A director should never deceive their actors by promising one role and delivering something different on set. If I change anything in the role, I always inform them. Director ko apne actor ke saath fraud nahi karna chahiye."

He adds, "Actors are inherently insecure, so, it's better to tell them which actor is doing what scene especially when it is a multi-starrer film. I make sure to tell them - yehi scene hai aur yehi karna hai - and I always have a reason for it. Truth in storytelling and honesty with actors is important."

Recalling how he wrote the iconic handpump scene in Gadar, Anil Sharma says, “Mujhe agar bologe Hindustan murdabad, toh mujhe itna gussa aa raha tha ki mujhe laga building hi utha kar phenk doon. Woh emotion blast hota hai. Building toh nahi phenk sakta tha, fountains nahi phenk sakta tha, aur uss zamane mein hand pumps hote the, toh maine hand pump phenk diya.”

He continues, “We had a two-hour discussion on set about that scene, and shooting was halted because of it. Many people objected to the handpump scene, calling it illogical."

But Sharma managed to convince them. He explains, "Sometimes, an emotion is so overwhelming it consumes a person entirely. Don’t we all feel, at times, that our anger could make us destroy everything physically?”

He adds, “Jab story mein emotion itna hota hai, toh apne aap bomb ki tarah explode karta hai aur audience tak pahunchta hai. Hum emotion la nahi sakte. Emotion ko film mein import nahi kar sakte. Agar emotion andar hai, tabhi woh export hoga.”

Moviegoers don’t just want good stories, they also want songs they can dance to. Sharma explains, “Music of the film is like blood to the body,” underlining that a film cannot stay memorable without music.

“Whether it was Manoj Kumar, Raj Kapoor, K Asif, or Vijay Anand - the kind of films they made had music as the lifeblood of their stories, and I’ve learned from those films. I can’t imagine a film without music, and I can’t make a film without it. I don’t enjoy films that lack music. I want to entertain people through my films, but I also want to entertain myself - and I don’t think I can ever be entertained without music.”

What are the elements of a mass entertainer? Sharma says, "Ultimately, log entertainment ke liye aa rahe hain. Aapse seekhne-samajhne nahi aa rahe hain."

- A story with emotion that resonates with crores of people

- Honesty in storytelling

- Serving truth like medicine coated with sugar

- Entertainment ka tadka, lekin tadka na lage