Cameos don't contribute much to save the film from sinking

- 'A cameo is useful only if it fits with the plot of the film. If the rest of the film is weak, then it won't make any difference.'

A lot of Bollywood movies have hit the box-office in 2022. All kinds of alchemy were tried to save Hindi films from sinking. One of them was to have a cameo (short role) in the film with big stars. Big names like Shah Rukh and Salman were roped in to prevent the fiasco of big budget films. So Shah Rukh Khan appeared in a cameo in 'Brahmastra: Part-1' Shiva. Deepika Padukone was seen in Rohit Shetty's film 'Circus' for one song. When Salman danced in his friend Ritesh Deshmukh's directorial debut film 'Vade'.

Small roles of big stars have become a topic of discussion on social media, but does their presence increase the value of the film? Are superstars' cameos a surprise to the audience now? Cinema lovers thronged the theaters to see him? If we look at the box-office statistics, the answer to the said three questions comes in 'no'. A trade expert from the film industry bluntly says, 'Nobody buys a movie ticket thinking of cameos. It is a misunderstanding and childish to think that a film will run because of someone's guest appearance.' Corroborating his point, another film pundit says, 'Cameos do not help in taking box-office figures higher. I don't think fans flock to theaters to see their favorite actor in a guest role. Yes, guest appearances by top actors can be a good marketing ploy to help the film in some way before its release. Cameos used to be really meaningful in Hindi films in the 80s and 90s, but not today.

Most people would agree that guest appearances only become the talk of social media. When in fact, this year, the cameos of big stars did not bring the audience to the multiplexes, but their presence increased the collections of the film. For instance, fans liked Akshay Kumar's scene with Ayushmann Khurrana in 'An Action Hero', but it did not take off the film. The film's director Anirudh Iyer admits this, 'It is necessary to brainstorm ideas before adding cameos. If you throw in a cameo that doesn't match the script of the film, chances are high that the audience will lose interest.'

However, the Godrio trend in Bollywood has not stopped yet. In a few times we will see Salman in Shah Rukh's 'Pathan' and Shah Rukh in Salman's film 'Tiger-3'. Experts believe that due to this, people's curiosity increases a bit, but ultimately the fate of the film is decided only by its content. A casting director says from his experience that a film's script should keep the audience hooked and the cameo fits the flow of the film. If the rest of the film is weak, Kisi Ko Bhi Le Aao will not make a difference.