We have come a long way

We have much to celebrate. The entire world knows Indian cinema. Initially, I had reservations about the term Bollywood. It denoted a kind of cinema that revolves around song and dance. We resisted this catch-all phrase for a while but then chose to accept it.

Indian cinema earned global recognition owing to the films of Satyajit Ray. We are perhaps losing touch with the essence of those remarkable films. We no longer see the reality of rural India in our films. Our cinema is far too city-centric.

Our cinema has become modern all through. Actors have the image of rockstars. This transformation is but natural because the world around us has changed and we have to move with the times.

In contemporary Indian cinema, the portrayal of women has definitely changed for the better. In the films of yore, a woman was supposed to be strong when she suffered in silence.

Women are no longer docile, simpering creatures in our films. They are assertive. They have shed their inhibitions. Women now do pretty much what the men do.

This is definitely a happy augury. Indian cinema is changing in terms of both ideas and technique. So filmmakers cannot afford to be stuck in the past in how they depict women on the big screen.

Amid all the growth that we are seeing, the time has come for us to pause and think about the future. Where is our cinema headed? Are we sure that we are not diluting our identity in our quest for modernity? Modernity is definitely aiming for but that should never be at the expense of what makes us what we are.

Look at the way songs are treated in Hindi films today. Their importance has declined sharply; the songs play second fiddle to the film and the stars. The songs of even the 1970s and 1980s are still fresh in our minds, but those of a couple of months ago have been forgotten. There used to be a certain magic about film music – we have lost the art of making timeless songs.

Change is always welcome because it paves the way for us to make progress. But any progress that takes us away from our roots is questionable. As the process of globalization gathers steam, it is important for us to keep pace. But we must learn to adapt to the new cultural order on our own terms, without being swayed by external forces.

We must lay greater emphasis on the screenplay. No matter how sophisticated our films become, unless the writing is of the highest quality these works will never be able to make the desired impression.

The trick lies in not underestimating the audience. The days when producers thought they could foist anything on the ticket-buying public and get away with it are long gone. The audience is far more demanding today – it knows exactly what it wants. The sooner our filmmakers recognise that truth, the better,

(As told to Prakriti Raj)