'Intelligence is...': Nikhil Kamath calls out Bollywood’s big-budget myth, here’s what he’s betting on

Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath believes the future of entertainment may not lie in ultra-refined productions or big-budget spectacles—but in something far more grounded and participatory: live events. In a recent post on X, Kamath wrote, “Quality is subjective. Intelligence is maybe in knowing what could work. I, for one, will pick a good local biryani place over a Michelin-star quality fancy restaurant 99 times out of 100... Also, building something in the space of live events may be the contrarian bet to make in a post-AI world.”

Kamath’s post was accompanied by a series of visuals that map India’s shifting entertainment preferences since 2018.

The data shows that cinema attendance, once peaking at 945 million in 2018, has yet to return to those highs—reaching 883 million in 2024 despite the return of big-budget films.

Meanwhile, the live event space has doubled: from 8,000 concerts in 2018 to over 16,700 by 2025, with small-format shows (under 2,000 attendees) seeing the fastest growth.

The trend reflects a deeper cultural shift. As Kamath’s visuals suggest, Indian consumers are leaning toward experiential, participatory formats like concerts over passive consumption like movie-going. This shift has challenged long-held industry assumptions—that only massive spectacles could draw audiences back in the OTT era.

Digging further, Kamath points to a compelling insight: most of 2024’s top Bollywood grossers were not mega-budget films but under-₹100 crore productions steeped in classic “masala” storytelling. These films, which deliver drama, emotion, and escapism, tapped into a deep-rooted audience preference—a reminder that for many Indians, cinema is still a vehicle for emotional release, not intellectual realism.

In contrast, South Indian cinema has maintained its cultural integrity while expanding its narrative styles—from the grounded realism of Malayalam films to the mythic scale of RRR and Kantara. These films celebrate emotion, folklore, and drama without apology—striking a chord both at home and abroad.

Kamath also draws a global parallel: anime, which grew into a worldwide phenomenon by doubling down on emotional storytelling and stylized excess, not toning it down. Western shows like Stranger Things now borrow from that formula. For Indian creators and founders, Kamath’s message is clear—don’t dilute the madness. Build on it.

In an era where AI is redefining digital interaction, Kamath sees live, collective, and deeply cultural experiences as the next frontier—one that’s rooted in India’s strengths, not detached from them.