The pandemic is a fitness test for the movie business, says Anupama Chopra
“Systemic lacunae creating over time, precipitated by the pandemic.” This was the response given to me by a number one producer after I requested why Hindi cinema is languishing. The query occurred to me as I put collectively a mid-year checklist of the perfect Indian movies of the primary half of 2021. The checklist was dominated by Malayalam cinema (The Nice Indian Kitchen, Joji, Kala, Nayattu, Drishyam 2: The Resumption).
There was additionally a Marathi movie (The Disciple), two Tamil films (Karnan and Mandela) and a Telugu one (Jathi Ratnalu). Just one Hindi movie made the lower, a 43-minute quick known as Geeli Pucchi, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, which was a part of the anthology Ajeeb Daastaans. Bollywood’s greatest movie of the 12 months, Salman Khan’s Radhe, encapsulated every thing that appears to be incorrect with the business proper now — it was bloated, mediocre, myopic, and one more try to substitute storytelling with star energy.
June 14 marked the primary anniversary of Sushant Singh Rajput’s tragic loss of life. The previous 12 months has been (as Queen Elizabeth II memorably described 1992) annus horribilis for the business. The pandemic and massive financial losses have been compounded by an existential disaster that rocked the foundations and revealed the fractiousness, inequity and varied fault strains of our system.
In all my years of reporting on Bollywood, I’ve by no means seen the business take such a public bashing. I’m hopeful that the disaster and consequent introspection will end in long-standing modifications, however even a cursory survey and informal conversations reveal that the current scenario has been within the making for years now.
The producer summarised it like this: “In Bollywood, the insistence on good tales is trumped by the insistence on business cinema. There are only a few actors who’re prepared to reinvent themselves. This isn’t the case within the south. There, established administrators encourage and mentor youthful expertise. What number of protégés are you able to title right here? Within the south, administrators inform tales of lived experiences. Right here, administrators with genuine voices get corrupted in a short time. Furthermore, within the south, the star acknowledges failure with the producer. Right here the star walks away from failure together with his hefty paycheque and says: ‘Not my drawback’. Within the south, the producers’ councils guarantee truthful play. Right here, the economics are lopsided and star energy solely goes up.”
This era, my supply says, “will take a look at the health of the business” and its capability to “proceed to perform because it did earlier than”. Which is simply as effectively. It’s time to demolish the previous construction and construct anew. Maybe we are able to take inspiration from one other anniversary this previous week: June 15 marked 20 years for the reason that launch of Lagaan: As soon as Upon a Time in India. The movie — three hours and forty-five minutes lengthy — continues to dazzle with its good screenplay, terrific performances, AR Rahman’s very good soundtrack, and the sheer ambition of the crew that made it, led by director Ashutosh Gowariker and main man and co-producer Aamir Khan. Lagaan represents the perfect of Hindi cinema. It reveals us the artistry that Bollywood is able to.
The by line of Lagaan is “Sach aur saahas hai jiske mann mein, ant mein jeet usi ki rahe (These with reality and braveness of their hearts, victory is ultimately theirs)”. Maybe it’s time for the Hindi movie business to search out its sach and saahas. And reinvent itself.
“Systemic lacunae creating over time, precipitated by the pandemic.” This was the response given to me by a number one producer after I requested why Hindi cinema is languishing. The query occurred to me as I put collectively a mid-year checklist of the perfect Indian movies of the primary half of 2021. The checklist was dominated by Malayalam cinema (The Nice Indian Kitchen, Joji, Kala, Nayattu, Drishyam 2: The Resumption).
There was additionally a Marathi movie (The Disciple), two Tamil films (Karnan and Mandela) and a Telugu one (Jathi Ratnalu). Just one Hindi movie made the lower, a 43-minute quick known as Geeli Pucchi, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, which was a part of the anthology Ajeeb Daastaans. Bollywood’s greatest movie of the 12 months, Salman Khan’s Radhe, encapsulated every thing that appears to be incorrect with the business proper now — it was bloated, mediocre, myopic, and one more try to substitute storytelling with star energy.
June 14 marked the primary anniversary of Sushant Singh Rajput’s tragic loss of life. The previous 12 months has been (as Queen Elizabeth II memorably described 1992) annus horribilis for the business. The pandemic and massive financial losses have been compounded by an existential disaster that rocked the foundations and revealed the fractiousness, inequity and varied fault strains of our system.
In all my years of reporting on Bollywood, I’ve by no means seen the business take such a public bashing. I’m hopeful that the disaster and consequent introspection will end in long-standing modifications, however even a cursory survey and informal conversations reveal that the current scenario has been within the making for years now.
The producer summarised it like this: “In Bollywood, the insistence on good tales is trumped by the insistence on business cinema. There are only a few actors who’re prepared to reinvent themselves. This isn’t the case within the south. There, established administrators encourage and mentor youthful expertise. What number of protégés are you able to title right here? Within the south, administrators inform tales of lived experiences. Right here, administrators with genuine voices get corrupted in a short time. Furthermore, within the south, the star acknowledges failure with the producer. Right here the star walks away from failure together with his hefty paycheque and says: ‘Not my drawback’. Within the south, the producers’ councils guarantee truthful play. Right here, the economics are lopsided and star energy solely goes up.”
This era, my supply says, “will take a look at the health of the business” and its capability to “proceed to perform because it did earlier than”. Which is simply as effectively. It’s time to demolish the previous construction and construct anew. Maybe we are able to take inspiration from one other anniversary this previous week: June 15 marked 20 years for the reason that launch of Lagaan: As soon as Upon a Time in India. The movie — three hours and forty-five minutes lengthy — continues to dazzle with its good screenplay, terrific performances, AR Rahman’s very good soundtrack, and the sheer ambition of the crew that made it, led by director Ashutosh Gowariker and main man and co-producer Aamir Khan. Lagaan represents the perfect of Hindi cinema. It reveals us the artistry that Bollywood is able to.
The by line of Lagaan is “Sach aur saahas hai jiske mann mein, ant mein jeet usi ki rahe (These with reality and braveness of their hearts, victory is ultimately theirs)”. Maybe it’s time for the Hindi movie business to search out its sach and saahas. And reinvent itself.
