Back to the roots

Popular scriptwriter Jaideep Sahni considers this the worst misfortune to have befallen the industry. “We are no more talking to 70 per cent of the country’s population,the one that doesn’t live in big cities. The profits come from cosmopolitan centres and hence attract capital from the big corporate houses.”

It is important to note that the multiplex culture has encouraged filmmakers to experiment with films for a niche audience. “Variety is key. If the industry today is generating content to suit various sensibilities,it’s a great sign of progress,” says Sahni,adding,“But at the same time,until now we’ve been an admirable industry because we’re storytellers to a nation. Why then should we become storytellers to just five pin codes?”

Tigmanshu Dhulia,whose Paan Singh Tomar is a biopic based in the Chambal valley,says that there is a whole section of audience—the middle class—that is left with limited choices for entertainment. “The middle class community in the small towns from the Jharkand,Uttar Pradesh,Bihar,Madhya Pradesh belt which is intelligent,but doesn’t relate to subjects and lifestyles dealt with in films like Dostana though the multiplexes have arrived. And Bhojpuri cinema is too crass for their taste. They however respond to films like Ishqiya,Raajneeti and Omkara.” Dhulia’s next two films after Paan Singh Tomar—Sahib,Biwi aur Gangster and Milan Talkies—also explore the rural milieu.

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar,who until now,made films that explore typically urban milieus like the corporate world in Corporate,the media industry and society in Page 3,says that he has travelled to the smaller towns of India and encountered an awareness about terms like ‘Page 3 parties’. “Since villagers want to move to towns and town inhabitants aspire to move to cities,the awareness towards such concepts has penetrated all levels and urban stories sell across the board these days,” he asserts,citing examples of his own films.

Bhandarkar does have a point here. Films are known for their larger-than-life portrayals and it is the aspirational value that is said to work. “Who wants to watch sad stories and problem-ridden lives? Cinema is a form of escapism,” argues Sabir Khan,the director of Kambakkth Ishq,who has assisted David Dhawan in the past. “Every middle class family saves up for that one big movie of the year to take their family out to. If aspirations didn’t hold any value,the portrayal of foreign lands in our films would not have happened.”

However,Dhulia counters that: “It is because of this gaping hole that regional cinema has witnessed a revival today.”

Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal,whose films have always explored the rural milieu,says,“My films are rooted in the villages because they shouldn’t fall off the map. Consciousness is based on experiences and if small towns and villages go missing from cinema,we city dwellers will forget that they exist and will eventually stop caring about life over there.”