The year 2000 served as the perfect curtain call for the decade.

As the decade neared its end, the films got wilder. brought back the epic, tortured romance, featuring stunning sets and a complicated love triangle involving Ajay Devgn, Salman Khan, and Aishwarya Rai.

Simultaneously, a different kind of cinema was emerging. tackled the Punjab insurgency with sensitivity, introducing a gritty realism. But the true artistic triumph came in 1997 with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s "Khamoshi: The Musical" . Though it struggled at the box office, its visual grandeur and the story of a deaf-mute couple showed that Bollywood could handle sensitive, artistic subjects.

However, the old guard was still fighting. In , Amitabh Bachchan delivered a powerhouse performance as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan. Though it initially underperformed, the film’s intensity was a grim reminder of the 80s style of filmmaking. Simultaneously, N. Chandra’s "Pratibandh" (1990) gave a platform to the newest action hero, Chiranjeevi, attempting to bridge South Indian mass appeal with Bollywood.