With Race 3, Kaala facing distribution hurdles, it's time for movies to stop relying on a big star's presence

Bollywood.

Bollywood relies on extravagant big-budgeted movies and A-list stars to make its money. Any film starring Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, for instance, is touted to rake in hundreds of crores at the box-office; and the objective is often achieved. But, after a slew of movies making hundreds of crores at the domestic box-office, reality seems to be catching up with Bollywood in 2018.

Last year, the top five highest grossing Bollywood movies were Secret Superstar, Tiger Zinda Hai, Hindi Medium, Golmaal Again and Raees. Two of these five movies, Secret Superstar and Hindi Medium, were made on meager budgets of Rs 15 crore and Rs 23 crores respectively. While Secret Superstar ended up making over Rs 970 crores worldwide, Hindi Medium made an impressive Rs 332 crores.

Salman Khan's Tiger Zinda Hai performed exceedingly well at the box-office, and so did Shah Rukh Khan's Raees, but they were expected to do so given the star-power attached to the two movies. However, 2017 saw a number of movies by A-list stars that didn't perform as expected. Salman Khan's Tubelight, Shah Rukh Khan's Jab Harry Met Sejal, and Ranbir Kapoor's Jagga Jasoos, among others, are a few examples.

This trend has been catching up with Bollywood in 2018.

It was reported on Tuesday, 8 May, that Salman Khan's Race 3 will probably get delayed. The reason behind the delay is said to be producer Ramesh Turani upping the price of the movie's theatrical rights to Rs 150 crores from the previous Rs 130 crore. This has caused distributors to to be wary of acquiring the theatrical rights to Race 3.