GUEST COLUMN | The Indian consumer is much smarter than we give it credit for: Akash Sagar Chopra

MUMBAI: At 38, Akash Sagar Chopra, the youngest grandson of legendary filmmaker Ramanand Sagar, finds himself at a unique crossroads: carrying forward one of India’s most trusted entertainment legacies while redefining how that legacy speaks to contemporary audiences.

As CEO of Sagar Pictures Entertainment, Chopra is leading the company’s next chapter with Shrimad Bhagavatam, a seven-film theatrical saga based on the Bhagavata Purana, serving as its first major cinematic undertaking.

For Chopra, however, adapting one of India’s most revered spiritual texts is not simply about scale, visual effects or technology. It begins with understanding the audience.

“The Indian consumer is much smarter than we give credit for,” Chopra says. “They are well-read, discerning in their choices, and today they have the world’s greatest stories at their fingertips. Audiences are no longer looking for narratives told in the same way. They are looking for something engaging, emotionally and intellectually rewarding, and worthy of the theatrical experience.”

He believes the industry’s assumptions about mass audiences are increasingly outdated.

“There has long been a tendency to believe that stories need to be simplified, sensationalised or made almost comical to appeal to a wider audience. I don’t believe that’s true anymore today. Today’s audiences recognise nuance. They understand craft. They appreciate layered storytelling, especially younger viewers, who have grown up consuming the very best cinema from around the world. In fact, the continued success of filmmaker-driven cinema has repeatedly shown that audiences are willing to embrace complexity when it is told with conviction.”

For Chopra, the true measure of a film’s success is not simply its opening weekend.

“Marketing can generate curiosity. Sustained audience advocacy for a film is what builds longevity. In today’s theatrical landscape, I’ve come to believe that the second weekend often reveals whether a film has genuinely connected with audiences beyond its initial marketing campaign

That philosophy is central to Shrimad Bhagavatam. While the text is celebrated for its extraordinary stories, Chopra believes its enduring relevance lies in the profound philosophical questions beneath them, questions of devotion, dharma, consciousness, morality and the relationship between the individual and the divine.

“For me, cinema is one our most powerful tools for preserving and transmitting stories, and an exploration of life and culture across generations. Today, cinema and visual storytelling more broadly offer us a unique opportunity to make these ideas accessible to contemporary audiences without compromising their depth,” he says. “The finest adaptations don’t dull down great literature, they uncover new ways for audiences to experience why it has remained timeless”

He points to works such as Dharamvir Bharati’s Andha Yug and Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan (1987) as examples of adaptations that respected their source material while creating emotionally resonant experiences for entirely new audiences.

For Chopra, one of the greatest creative challenges in adapting India’s sacred literature is resisting the temptation to interpret it solely through the conventions of contemporary blockbuster filmmaking.

“Our sacred texts were never conceived simply as superhero kids stories,” he says. “Their true power is the philosophical and spiritual questions they invite us to explore. If we reduce that what the ancients have called ‘divine’ to the grammar of conventional comic-book fantasy, we risk losing what makes these writings, humanity’s ancient attempts to contemplate on the infinite.”

He argues that the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana and the Upanishads remain culturally significant because they continue to explore questions that transcend any single generation.

“The exploration of such material must begin with humility, with years of learning, unlearning and rigorous study. When one reads the Bhagavad Gita, one realises that although it begins as a dialogue on the battlefield of Kurukshetra between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, the warrior-archer, it gradually unfolds into one of the most profound philosophical discourses ever written. With Shri Krishna assuming the role of Arjuna’s guru and guide, the dialogue synthesises many of the central ideas found throughout the Upanishads and India’s broader spiritual tradition. It is not merely a call to battle, but a timeless meditation on duty, consciousness, ethics and the individual’s journey towards the divine. That, as I have learnt from great teachers over many years, is the true artistry of the Gita, (the Song Divine). Having spent years adapting our sacred literature across television and other mediums, one lesson has remained constant: these works demand depth, interpretation and artistic sincerity. Reducing them to simplistic binaries of good versus bad or relying solely on visuals alone for the sake of ratings, risks leaving audiences with a gross misinterpretation of texts whose meaning has evolved through centuries of contemplation, scholarship and lived tradition.”

That distinction now shapes Sagar Pictures Entertainment’s creative approach to Shrimad Bhagavatam. The ambition is unapologetically cinematic, designed for the theatrical experience with world-class craft, visual storytelling and contemporary world-building, while remaining culturally authentic and emotionally truthful to the spiritual ethos of the text.

“Scale and authenticity are not opposing ideas,” Chopra says. “Our responsibility is to explore these worlds in ways audiences haven’t experienced before, making the surreal feel as real as possible while remaining faithful to the essence of the source material.”

He also believes that enduring cinematic franchises are usually driven by a singular creative vision.

“The most successful epic franchises have been guided by auteur filmmakers with a deep understanding of the worlds they were adapting,” he says. “Whether it’s George Lucas with Star Wars, Peter Jackson with The Lord of the Rings or Denis Villeneuve with Dune, audiences ultimately respond to a distinctive cinematic voice. Technology evolves, but storytelling remains deeply personal. That is very much our approach. We see ourselves as filmmakers first and executives second. Our responsibility is to interpret these extraordinary texts through cinema, with artistic conviction, creative integrity and the highest standards of craft.”

That philosophy carries particular significance given the legacy Chopra inherits.

Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan became a cultural landmark not simply because it dramatised an epic, but because audiences formed a deeply emotional relationship with the text through the screen, resonating with its profoundly human arcs, philosophical depth and universal themes. Conceived with a cinematic sensibility and featuring a largely unfamiliar cast, the series earned extraordinary trust through the conviction of its storytelling, rather than the scale of its production.

For Chopra, that is both an inspiration and a responsibility.

“It would be foolish for us to attempt to recreate the Ramayan (1987) today. That work has already earned its place in Indian history. Our challenge is different, to discover a new cinematic language through which new generations can experience other extraordinary stories from our sacred literature. These stories deserve a cinematic language that is unmistakably their own, a new visual language that is born from them, rather than imposed upon them.”

He believes younger audiences are ready for ambitious Indian storytelling that stands alongside the world’s finest cinema while remaining rooted in its own cultural identity.

“We possess texts that have survived for thousands of years because they continue to speak to the deepest questions of human existence,” he says. “Our responsibility is to preserve their wisdom and integrity while finding contemporary ways for audiences to experience their relevance in todays times”

That philosophy also underpins Sagar Pictures Entertainment’s broader ambitions. As the company expands across film, television, interactive entertainment, music, publishing, consumer products and immersive experiences, Chopra believes every new venture must remain anchored in storytelling. Technology, scale and franchise potential matter, but they are never the starting point.

“We are akin to the bards. The stories that endure are the ones people choose to watch and return to throughout their lives. If we can remain true to this, while creating that kind of experience, for a wise consumer, I believe we’ve done our job.”