Uncanned in Cannes

It was probably the most chaste depiction of romantic love ever shown at the Cannes. But that definitely was not the most remarkable thing about Thursday’s screening of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas at the film festival in France. Bhansali’s film is the first commercial Hindi film to be shown in the famed 55-year-old festival. Coming as it does so close at the heels of Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Lagaan, which surely missed the Oscar only by a whisker, Devdas’s strides across the world stage are all the more awe-inspiring. Has commercial Indian cinema come of international age? Will these films do what Bhansali hopes they will — send westerners off to discover the rich heritage of Bollywood? What does his achievement mean for the world’s biggest film-producing country, its industry? Most of all, does it finally signal the West’s readiness to accept Bollywood on its own terms?

Yes, Bollywood has made it to Hollywood and the French Reviera in quick succession, and by all accounts, they were charmed. And no, it wasn’t simply Aamir Khan’s cherubic good looks or Aishwarya and Shahrukh’s flamboyant entry at the Palais du Festival that did it. But why weigh down a good moment with these big questions? Why must Bhansali or Gowarikar be saddled with the responsibility of making statements larger than their respective films? On the other hand, it is inevitable perhaps that they should shoulder this burden. The achievements of these two young filmmakers come at a turbulent juncture in the Hindi film industry. For the past many years now, with the opening up of a vast NRI market, filmmakers have become aware of a new audience. The Hindi film has been changing as a result. There is a new technological gloss, as well as a variation in theme, all the better to appeal to the non-resident Indian’s expectations of a homegrown tale spun with more sophisticated technique. The NRI-isation of the Hindi film has been in full swing. Now with Lagaan and Devdas striking a chord with a larger audience abroad than merely the Indian diaspora, the cross-over status also suddenly seems tantalisingly within Bollywood’s reach. But new aspirations inevitably bring a new timidity, and a new agonising — is Bollywood changing beyond recognition? Is it being accepted on ‘our’ terms or ‘theirs’? Will Indian film-makers have to change their essential style to cater to audiences in the west?

Perhaps these questions are being taken more seriously than they deserve to be. Why must there be a fixity and sanctity about Bollywood fare? Why shouldn’t it re-invent its flavour and its idiom as times change and it becomes possible to reach out to different, larger audiences? Devdas’s grand outing at Cannes must be celebrated and enjoyed. This is not the time to shrink behind labels.