THE BOLLYWOOD GENE

 

 

If the Mumbaikar’s genome was to be decoded, I am sure the genetic scientists will find a pair of genes they haven’t seen before – the Bollywood gene! Films and Mumbai share an umbilical link that has come to define the city and its philosophy for almost a century, and having showcased the collective dreams and hopes of a nation on the silver screen, Bollywood has become one of India’s most globally recognisable brands. From 1896, when the Watson’s Hotel held the first ever film screening in what was then Bombay to an Oscar nomination for “Lagaan” in 2001, Bollywood’s journey has always mirrored India’s. It has been everything – from a money laundering device for unscrupulous movie ‘producers’ to the launching pad of dreams, from a creative canvas which has seen the brushstroke of maestros to a commercial juggernaut that has provided employment in thousands. And its spirit runs through every Mumbaikar’s vein as much as it does through every Indian’s. Dadasaheb Phalke’s 1913 movie, “Raja Harishchandra”, set the ball rolling but the industry did not fully take off till the first ‘talkie’ came along, the 1931 super hit, Ardeshir Irani’s “Alam Ara”. Of course, the ‘industry’ did not get the legal status as an industry till as late as 2001 but by then it had acquired a reputation by the sheer virtue of being the most prolific – producing around 800 films a year – the highest in the world. Immediately after independence, the focus of the films was firmly inward, focussing on the subjects of poverty and struggle faced by the people at large. The Oscar nominated (in the Best Foreign-Language Film category) “Mother India” became the defining film of the period. This Mehboob Khan movie, starring Sunil Dutt and Nargis, captured the essence of film making in those days, a motif of pain, soulful music and socially relevant storyline that was also evident in films like “Naya Daur”, which starred another superstar of the era, Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar was the quintessential Bollywood success story that came to represent the dreams associated with Bollywood. A resident of Peshawar, he was spotted in Pune, where his family had relocated in the 1940s. Born Muhammad Yusuf Khan, he was given the screen name Dilip Kumar by Devika Rani, herself a film legend and the wife of Himangshu Rai, the founder of Bombay Talkies. After his first break in 1944 in “Jwar Bhata”, he went on to create history winning eight Filmfare awards for the best actor, having starred in landmark films such as “Devdas” and “Mughal-E-Azam”. He was indeed Bollywood’s first superstar and in the life and career of every superstar that followed – be it Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan or even Shah Rukh Khan – you can trace vestiges of his aura. The decade of the 60s couldn’t escape the worldwide trend of a throwback to a romantic era (remember The Beatles and the hippies?) and Bollywood reflected the same with films like “Guide” (Vijay Anand’s magnum opus). The intervening years of the two decades though belonged to the tragic and stark realism of Guru Dutt, a man whose films (“Pyaasa” prime among them) were way ahead of their time. Music became the signature of this era and as filmaker Ravi Chopra puts it “Music became really important from 60s onwards. Even if the movie wasn’t very good, the music made it popular.” It was also an era of self realisation and social upheavel, a mood well captured by Manoj Kumar’s “Upkaar” and Chetan Anand’s moving war saga “Haqeeqat”. The 70s saw the emergence of the ‘angry young man’, crystallised in the image of Amitabh Bachchan in “Zanjeer”, one identifiable by a nation in turmoil. But it was a multi-starrrer released in 1975 that became a one stop showcase of cinema and story telling in Bollywood. Ramesh Sippy’s “Sholay” not only had a star-studded cast, it was perhaps the first time the villain received a billing at par with the heroes. Amjad Khan’s portrayal of Gabbar Singh was a performance for the ages and “Sholay’s” box office stint broke all records. Hindi films had known commercial success before, but “Sholay” was a game changer that rewrote the rule book on budgets, production and effectively the entire industry. What followed were a league of intrepid producers not afraid to gamble with big budgets and bigger stars and the entire country had found a thrilling pastime – the three hour movie escape that had it all. Points out Ravi Chopra, “In this period, good directors like Yash Chopra, Raj Khosla and Shakti Samanta made family oriented films which did very well.” Directors like Subhash Ghai picked the mantle in the 80s which saw the emergence of many more stars and the true democratisation of what (notwithstanding the successes of ‘outsiders’ like a Bachchan or a Dharmendra) was often seen as a dynastic milieu had begun. Fresh faces in front as well as behind the camera saw a decade of expirementation in all forms, with films like “Roja” on one hand and “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” on the other. It also was the decade that the nefarious Bollywood-Underworld link was exposed, and the underworld became inseperably intertwined in the Bollywood plot both on and off the screen. On the brighter side, an Oscar nomination for Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowariker’s “Lagaan” was the tipping point that embedded Bollywood in the international psyche. Actor Kabir Bedi believes, “Internationally, brand Bollywood is more recognised now and respected. Today, it stands by itself and people no more question – why songs in the middle of movies!” The film industry still remains the launch pad for thousands of hopefuls and their millions of dreams – whether it is an independent film maker or a wannabe starlet. Says Ravi Chopra, “Bombay – everyone loves the charm of it. Especially in the early days it was the place where people came and realised their dreams. We are dream merchants and this was the place where dreams can be realised.” The city itself has remained a dramatic backdrop for many a movie.” The portrayal of the city on the silver screen has changed says Kabir Bedi because “the older Johnny Walker kind of films were about fantasy stories but the gritty realism in the modern films has given a far more grim kind of picture to Bombay, especially all the films made on the underworld.” Says Muzaffar Ali, the maker of the highly acclaimed “Umraao Jaan”, “Bombay has grown from being a poet’s inspiration to a gangster’s den. It has evolved from a romantic metropolis to a don’s paradise. Bombay is Bollywood’s muse, now gone out of the hands of the poets to the hands of the angry young, the smuggler and now the terrorist.” He will doubtless identify with that Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutt song from CID that captured the spirit of the city and the film industry it nurtures. Like the city, its lyrics remains timeless: “Zara Hatke, Zara Bachke, Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan!”