Celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema

"Some young Mumbai filmmakers are moving away from hackneyed commercial praxis and informing their work with intelligence and sensitivity. They want box office success, but not at the expense of creative integrity"

Mumbai films have dominated Indian cinema since the 1940s. But it would be wrong to suggest that regional cinema has played second fiddle. Not only has it held its head high over the decades, it has played a critical role in taking Indian cinema to the global level. Therefore, I feel that we don't need to harp endlessly on the Bollywood-regional cinema divide.

There have been several commendable efforts made in Mumbai in recent months. Kahaani, Shanghai, Paan Singh Tomar and Vicky Donor are all worth talking about. There is a new approach taking shape in a section of the Mumbai movie industry as we celebrate a landmark year in the history of Indian cinema.

Many young Mumbai directors are moving away from the hackneyed praxis of commercial movies and informing their work with intelligence and sensitivity. These new films are essentially designed for commercial success but not at the expense of creative integrity.

Last year, I had the opportunity to watch many Malayalam films as the jury chief of the Kerala State Film Awards. I was impressed with the quality of films being made there. One director who caught my attention is Vipin Vijay. His sensibility is strikingly original and his style is marked by honesty. Filmmakers like him are the ones we should be banking on to take Indian cinema to a higher plane.

In Kolkata too, some interesting films are being made; films that are drawing the crowds back to the theatres. These films are smart, polished and well-packaged but, to my mind, they are anything but exceptional. They do not have the universal quality of the globally acclaimed Bengali films of the 1960s and 1970s. These films are too localised and insular. Bengali cinema once thrived on its international profile – that quality seems to have been sacrificed at the altar of instant success.

I can vouch for the fact that there is a global market for quality Indian cinema.  It needs to be tapped. My own films, notably Uttara (The Wrestlers) and Mondo Meyer Upakhyan (Tale of a Naughty Girl), made three times the money that was invested in them. One has to understand the demands of the international market and not just peddle Indian poverty.

I, too, was accused of highlighting India’s poverty in Neem Annapurna (Bitter Morsel). But as a filmmaker I cannot let these accusations stop me in my track. It is my job to turn the spotlight on the realities that are brushed under the carpet by mainstream movies.

Today’s Bengali films, generally speaking, are readily accepted in the Kolkata theatrical circuit, but not beyond. On the one hand, the themes are not international enough to take these films beyond the boundaries of India; on the other, their sensibility is too urbanised for their appeal to extend to the smaller centres. There is a clear need for a rethink if Bengali cinema is to reclaim its international space.

There is a silver lining in this cloud – audiences in Kolkata have got rid of their obsession with Bollywood films. They are increasingly looking for homegrown cinema that is more challenging. The fact that Bengali films of all kinds are getting into the multiplexes is a very happy sign. There has been a revival of Bengali cinema at the domestic level.

Bengal's younger filmmakers need to understand that it is equally important to have a global reach. It can only help our cinema get better. Else these films will vanish within a decade.

Consider the fate that befalls bestselling books. They thrive for a while and are then forgotten. True literature survives forever. I love reading thrillers. But I give them away once I have read them. But will I ever do the same with a Leo Tolstoy novel? It will be in my collection for keeps..

We need to understand the difference between instant sales and long-term viability. There is a demand for Guru Dutt films to this day in the West. It is pretty much the same in the case of a Bimal Roy or a Raj Kapoor. And these were filmmakers who were not working in the same space as Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak. Yet they created films that have survived the test of time.

My approach to the medium is simple: it isn’t my intention to bore my audience but I do want to make films that will not be of merely seasonal and local appeal. When cinema says something of import, it acquires a value that goes beyond the high of box-office success.

As far as I can see, international film festival programmers are not looking at Bengali cinema anymore. It is important for us to be a part of the global network. When I made Uttara, I had to pre-sell it for a song simply in order to complete the film. But when it won the Best Director prize in Venice  in the year 2000, its sales picked up dramatically.

In a globalised world, we cannot ignore the rest of the world when we make films. Insularity will do us no good. Indian filmmakers must always keep their eyes, sensibilities and windows wide open.