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- By Tapapriya Dutta
- Thu, 15 May 2025 01:45 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Punit Tiwari, who has worked in popular movies and shows such as Ground Zero, Chhatriwali and Sandeep Bhaiya, recently shared his interest in working in the Malayalam film industry. The actor compared the South film industry with Bollywood and stated that the Hindi film industry practices a lot of formula-based writing, which affects the content. Whereas, in the Malayalam film industry, they focus on the content and make the film before marketing it. Tiwari further shared his views on the box office failures of the big Bollywood movies and stated that the root cause might be the higher ticket pricing.
In an exclusive interview with Jagran English, Punit Tiwari said, “If I get the chance, I would like to work in the Malayalam film industry. I like Fahadh Faasil. I also like Vijay Sethupathi, I loved watching his movie 96. I watch a lot of nostalgic content. I also watch movies at film festivals. I also love watching world cinema.”
When asked if he wants to shift to the South Indian Film Industry, Tiwari added, “It's not about shifting, as a storyteller or as an actor, you want to explore more stories which is raw and connect to the human level. Nowadays, Bollywood practices a lot of formula-based writing. They first sell the project, then make the content. But in the Malayalam film industry, they first make the films, then sell them. As long as Bollywood does not move away from the formula-based writing concept, it won’t be able to tell authentic stories. There are so many authentic stories which can be made, but they copy something old. Due to which the story faces injustice and gets corrupted. I believe till the time they don’t change their mindset, they won’t be able to showcase a good story. I understand the commercial part that they need to make a profit. Sometimes, when a movie is made with honesty, the audience gives their love to it.”
While sharing his views on the poor box office performances of Bollywood movies, Punit said, “If we see its root cause, you can see that on National Cinema Day, the ticket prices cost Rs 99 in PVR. That day the theatres are housefull. Due to high ticket prices, the audience thinks that when the movie arrives on OTT, they will watch it there only. All theatrical releases come on OTT in 15 days or a month after release. Which is why audiences prefer watching it on OTT.”
He added, “If you see the Southern culture, parents take their children to the cinema every weekend. This culture has not flourished enough here. I guess the ticket pricing there is not as high in comparison to Bollywood. In the film industry, the ticket prices cost around Rs 1000 to 1500, which is why people feel that it is not worth enough. If the prices are a bit low, then people might go to the theatres. In this turning phase of Bollywood, it has to bring something new and fresh, which might work. Otherwise, the formula-based theory is not working.”
When asked about which filmmakers he would like to work with in future, Punit Tiwari shared, “I’m inspired by Shoojit Sircar, I love watching his films. I really like his movie Piku. He tries to bring the culture, language, accent, food and everything of the characters on the screen. I would like to work with Shoojit Sircar, Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap, Sudhir Mishra and Anubhav Sinha.”
Punit Tiwari has worked in several projects, including Sandeep Bhaiya (2023), Trial by Fire (2023), Chhatriwali (2023), 200 Halla Ho (2020) and Panchlait (2017), to name a few. The actor was last seen in Ground Zero, which released in theatres on April 25, 2025. The movie also featured Emraan Hashmi, Sai Tamhankar, Zoya Hussain and Lalit Prabhakar in key roles. It has been directed by Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar. Ground Zero accumulated a net collection of Rs 7.7 crore after 20 days of release and Rs 8.32 crore worldwide.
