New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS): Gone are the days when films used to be hit solely on star value. Now the Indian cinema audience wants star as well as story, says "Raazi" filmmaker Meghna Gulzar.

According to her, good content plays a major role for the success of films in today's time.

In the session 'Changing Trends Of Hindi Cinema' at Times LitFest Delhi 2018 on Sunday, Meghna said: "In Indian cinema, earlier a lot of emphasis was given to heroes and heroines, but now things are not the same. Now, people are giving due importance not only to actors but also to the content... Content is becoming crucial element in Inian cinema."

Lyricist Prasoon Joshi, who was also a part of the panel, agreed. He said there has been an evolution.

"Now people are hungry for content...things have changed. People who earlier used to go to theatres just to watch their favourite stars on the big screen did not care much about the story, and they are the same people who now want to know what the story is about. They read reviews of the film and then will go to theatre to watch a particular movie."

Joshi, the censor board chairman, said there is a rise of "informed cinema" in India.

"Instead of knowing what are the songs in the films, now a person is keen to know what is the story of a film. People have become informed. They think twice before spending their precious 2-3 hours on any movie now," added the multi-faceted Joshi, who has written lyrics for songs from hit movies like "Rang De Basanti" and "Taare Zameen Par".

The session also saw "Udaan" director Vikramaditya Motwane in conversation.