Don’t need stars to tell a good story: 'Band Baaja Baaraat' director Maneesh Sharma

Despite coming from the Yash Raj stable, Band Baaja Baaraat (BBB) was one of the unlikely successes of 2010. The heroine, Anushka Sharma, is yet to establish herself in the big league, while the hero, Ranveer Singh, is a newbie. At the helm was Maneesh Sharma, himself a debutant director.

The film released alongside No Problem, which was expected to do better at the box office. BBB, understandably, garnered mediocre collections over the first weekend. But following glowing reviews and good word-of-mouth, the numbers improved.

In fact, the film’s collections in the second weekend were better than in its first weekend — a rarity nowadays — earning the film the tag of sleeper hit of 2010 (a film that starts slowly but maintains steady numbers).

Sharma is relieved to see audiences turning up at theatres and appreciating the film. “It is a welcome change that even without star value on the posters, the film has done well. I think a large part of the credit goes to the audiences for their acceptance. It is a big change for filmmakers that you don’t necessarily need a star to tell a good story,” says Sharma.

Much of the appreciation of the film centres around the freshness in storytelling. The love story itself may not exactly be new, but Sharma’s presentation of the characters and manner of storytelling made BBB immensely watchable.

Sharma himself points out that at a broad level the story is not unconventional. “Boy meets girl, they get along, then have a conflict and finally come together. Now you can go back to Bobby and the broad story graph would be the same. It’s how you interpret a story that makes the film fresh and authentic.”

Sharma, who grew up in Delhi, studied filmmaking in California. After returning to India, he worked with Yash Raj Films as assistant director in Fanaa, Aaja Nachle and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

For his directorial debut, Sharma drew on his experiences. It helped in detailing the film — for example, how a Janakpuri wedding differs from a Sainik Farm wedding. Part of the film, in fact, was shot in Hansraj College where Sharma himself studied. “Those are the spaces I have grown up around and which haven’t been explored much in cinema. I hoped it would provide some authenticity to the whole experience.”

In fact, a new face turned out to be a blessing in Ranveer Singh. In addition to the entertainment it provides, BBB has given the industry, and audiences, a new hero to root for.

“I wanted a unity in the kind of atmosphere and the world I wanted to create — if I am shooting in a Janakpuri gully or a Hansraj hostel, I should see a Bittu Sharma who belongs in a Hansraj hostel. Ranveer is a fairly unconventional actor, but he was born to play Bittu Sharma. My instinct was that we go with a new face. It felt right. We had a nice story. We had characters who you could have a lot of fun with. And we explored the conflict between emotions and ambitions. ‘Pyaar aur vyapaar ki jodi nahin jamti’ seems very relevant to me,” he says.

Sharma is confident that the success of BBB and other small films in 2010 will usher in a change.

“I think this trend is here to stay. The audience approval for such films will empower filmmakers. It is the best thing that could have happened.

"Today, people have access to all kinds of cinema and so tastes have become much wider. See, it’s a two-way street. And now it seems like a nice traffic is running in. I hope it gets even better.”