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Perhaps, it was Sudhir Mishra’s Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi in 2005 that set a trend, inspiring new talent to experiment in filmmaking and storytelling. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi was a breakthrough film, hugely popular among youngsters in the metros, and considered by viewers and critics to be a masterpiece.
Since then, filmmakers have begun thinking of new ideas, writing compelling stories and scripts and making storytelling an appealing art. In the past two years, there have been several movies devoid of ‘multi-crore’, ‘multi-star’ USPs, based on meaningful stories, original screenplay, innovative cine-matography, great music and ‘powerful picturisation’.
This was at a time when the Hindi film industry was losing several crores because films were being made at huge cost and consumers were refusing to patronise them. Various stakeholders blamed external factors for the poor performance, but the fact, which everyone privately agrees, is that stories and scripts have become extremely weak.
In this period, some small budget movies such as Aamir, A Wednesday, Dev D, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye, Dasvidaniya, Welcome to Sajjanpur and Mumbai Meri Jaan released and got both critical acclaim and success at the box office.
Significantly, they broke through the commercial jinx and the stereotype that only "big brands" such as Karan Johar with Shah Rukh Khan, or Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in a multi-crore glossy entertainer with huge amounts of money can sell. The new filmmakers have broken through this cliche and carved a new genre of authentic cinema, which is world class, low budget, with the finest in the craft, be it actors, scriptwriters, cinematographers, musicians, lyricists and, of course, directors and producers. Indeed, in the general scenario of mediocrity, driven solely by box office logic, this new cinema has come as refreshing breath, without any cultural or intellectual baggage.
Sudhir Mishra has turned a producer, giving opportunities to young and talented directors, actors and scriptwriters. Rajat Kapoor and others too are making their productions. Hitherto unknown actors such as Boman Irani, Vinay Pathak and Kay Kay Menon have found their own creative space in Bollywood.
“Our cinema is witnessing a very interesting time. Movies that could not have been dreamt about four or five years ago are seeing the light of the day. This has brought in a new wave of filmmakers, a new style of filmmaking and has made what used to be called ‘art cinema’ in the past more commercial and mainstream,” says Siddharth Roy Kapur, chief operating officer, UTV Motion Pictures.
For Kapur, such movies are important from the perspective of brand-building. “We like to stand for commercially successful and critically acclaimed cinema,” he says. For UTV, it is a strategic decision to have a well-balanced portfolio of big and small budget movies. “One is not a substitute for the other. Both actually complement each other. People do enjoy big movies with big stars,” he adds.
On the new trend in filmmaking, Vikas Bahl, chief creative officer, UTV Motion Pictures, says: “I think what has happened is that at the directors’ and producers’ end, a few people who believe in storytelling have come together.”
Bahl, who reads several scripts, says that India has unique and amazing stories and, interestingly, every story has the possibility of several versions. According to him, it is the story that decides the budget and scale. “Not that all the stories that we support will work. However, our approach is the same-- if there is a great story, then go all out and do justice to it. Some films require a big star cast, some do not, and in some cases, the story itself is the star,” he says.
Seconding him, Ramkamal Mukherjee, vice-president, media and special projects at Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC), says, “Budget is not the issue. If the script demands a star and shoots at exotic locations, then the budget will be huge.” Mukherjee, who wishes to look at movies as either good or bad and not big-budget or small-budget, thinks the passion for making a movie is the same whether you are making one for a niche audience or an out and out commercial one. PNC produced movies such as Hazaaron Khwai-shein Aisi and Chameli.
PNC also has a variety of films meant for different audiences. “The idea is to support independent filmmakers who have excellent stories to tell,” says Mukherjee.
Movies are made with an eye on the box office, and if they do not measure up to it, then it is apt to evaluate the failure and improve. “It is not the budget, but the quality of movies and the entertainment content that decides a movie’s fate,” says Tushan Dhingra, COO, Big Cinemas. He attributes the success of small budget movies to some extent on the mushrooming of multiplexes. He says there is an audience for such movies, not just Hindi ones, but also regional languages, including foreign cinema.
Not surprisingly, A Wednesday, was remade in Tamil and Telugu and has been a box office hit.
Dibakar Banerjee, who directed Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, thinks that it is easy to get a producer on board for filmmakers like him. “While there are a number of small movies that have done well, there are an equal or more number that have tanked. So it is erroneous to generalise that all small movies are successful and all big movies a failure,” he says.
Banerjee says it is the big stars who pull audiences to theatres in the first week and if the movie has strong content, it does well. “It is the big star movies with substantially low-quality content that bomb at the box office. So content is important,” he adds.
Anurag Kashyap, who directed the successful Dev D, a UTV Spotboy movie, is taking his association forward with the company.
Recently, UTV Motion Pictures signed Kashyap for a nine-film deal for the next three years.
Small is becoming big and stories are surely becoming the new stars.The multiplex phenomena too is helping those who don't have big bucks. What’s more, production houses too are willing to put their money where the stories (not the stars) are!
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