Bollywood and Hindi cinema are going through constant change. A new breed of directors with stark and penetrating cinematic language are poised for a big break into Bollywood. Starting this month with Anand Gandhi whose Ship Of Theseus, our cinema appears poised for the next level where, fearlessness and not internal and external violence (which distinguished the new-age cinema of the past decade) would rule. Gandhi has unabashedly admitted his film is not for the masses, but a “very serious loyal audience.” That audience-base has expanded from a trickle during Vishal Bhardwaj’s debut in Maqbool to a sizeable number.
In August, Ajay Behl makes his directorial debut with the dark and disturbing BA Pass. Behl asserts, “Though my story is realistic, the narrative is racy and exhilarating.” A study of the sleazy underbelly in the Paharganj area of Delhi where sex is used to quell boredom and generate monetary power, BA Pass is an exploration of love and lust during times of financial deprivation.
So are we gradually tiring of populist elements in cinema? Will Prabhudheva be the last of Manmohan Desai’s successors in Bollywood? Director Ahishor Solomon, who makes his debut with a taut thriller John Dey featuring Naseeruddin Shah, feels there is room for every kind of filmmaker.
Manish Tiwari whose Issaq does a revisionist version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet feels there is ample room for every kind of cinema. “Variety has always been the driving force of Indian cinema. It continues to be so even now,” says Tiwari.
Art designer Omang Kumar, who went around with his script for Mary Kom for more than a year, finally got Sanjay Leela Bhansali to produce the film.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who features in the cast of several films by the new generation of torch-bearing directors, feels this is the best time to direct films in India. “Audiences are open to all kinds of experiences. I am working side-by-side with veteran Buddhadeb Dasgupta in Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa and a completely new director Ritesh Batra in Lunchbox.”
There is a growing breed of filmmakers, who are willing to take Hindi cinema to the next level, but what they sorely lack is star support. Hence Faraz Haider has made his anti-war satire War Chhod Na Yaar with Sharman Joshi and Soha Ali Khan. If only more A-lister stars were willing to lend their support to directors trying out a new language.
The writer, a die-hard movie buff, has contributed for nearly three decades to the media.
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