New Michael biopic proves why he remains the King of Pop

I caught the second show of ‘Michael’ and the atmosphere in the hall was less like a cinema and more like an event. The theatre was packed, louder than usual and somewhere in the crowd, I spotted a few people dressed like Michael Jackson. It was a strange mix; those who had grown up hearing his name, and those who had actually lived through his era, sitting in the same room, waiting for the same story.

For most of us in our early 20s, he has always existed more as a legend than a memory. But that day, watching ‘Michael,’ it didn’t feel distant anymore. It felt like arriving late to something the world had once experienced together. We heard about the influence: fans fainting at the mere sight of his stage entry, no Instagram, no follower counts, just pure untouchable stardom before “aura” was even a word.

His peak era saw him breaking album sales records again and again, all without algorithms, playlists, or influencers. I’ve always pictured the 90s through elders’ stories. My cousin Faisal Ibrahim, who was a school kid back then, remembered, “Everyone tried his moonwalk, even my elder brother.” The 45-degree lean was practiced at home after first discovering it. He was the last of the stars, dominated for decades, not months. He existed in an era where stars were celestial bodies.

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I also heard how people used to camp for concert tickets, how cities would shut down when MJ headlines, and the massive cassette buying mania after his death in 2009. Faisal also put it this way, “From our parents’ generation to ours, everyone knows about him,” a rare cultural bridge that spans decades. Back then, people didn’t scroll through his life, they waited for it. And that made his every appearance feel bigger.

The movie doesn’t cover his whole life, but it takes us into his early life and family. Jaafar Jackson, MJ’s own nephew, plays him in his first movie and pulls off the role surprisingly well. The film shows the pressure of stardom: no normal childhood, barely any personal space, always under the spotlight.

The numbers suggest this isn’t just nostalgia at play. Despite mixed critical reception, ‘Michael’ opened to record-breaking figures, outperforming past biopics and even rivaling modern blockbusters. But the bigger story isn’t in the box office. It’s who showed up. A generation that never lived through Michael Jackson at his peak is now filling theatres, not out of obligation, but out of curiosity. Or maybe something deeper.

For others, the scale of his influence stood out more than anything else. Even decades after his peak, the pull remains undeniable. He had the kind of reigning dominance that feels alien to a generation used to trends that die in a week.

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Montaquim Islam Noor, a university student, told me the theatre’s collective rush changed how he hears his songs now: “When ‘Billie Jean’ started playing on the screen, with him doing his iconic ‘moonwalk,’ the entire audience erupted in a kind of euphoric madness.” It’s no longer just about the beats, but about exploring a legacy. He added, “I now hear his songs with the feeling of millions of other people who adore them too."

I walked out of the theatre still hearing fragments of applause, still carrying bits of scenes. Maybe that’s what makes Michael Jackson different from so many others. He isn’t just remembered; he keeps resurfacing in new ways. Zarifa Tashfiah, a lifelong fan who’s always been obsessed, reminded me that the fire never faded, “I have been a fan before and I still am.” And for a generation like ours, not having lived through his peak but still finding reasons to understand how big he was, the rediscovery feels continuous.