Local flavour

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai attributes the wave in regional cinema to the multiplex culture. “The Hindi mainstream cinema is catering to multiplexes in big towns and metros. It is expensive and the subjects mostly revolve around city life,to which they can’t relate. To the local audience,watching a big Hindi film is as alien as watching a Hollywood movie. Hence,they are returning to their own language for entertainment,” he explains.

Nikhil Sane,senior Vice-President of Zee Talkies,which produced the recent Marathi hit Natrang,points out that the space for regional films has always existed. “The film industry down South has always been as noteworthy monetarily as Bollywood even though the platform and reach may be limited. Filmmakers like Ram Gopal Varma and Mani Ratnam have often crossed over and are equally well-received in either of the industries. And it is Bengali cinema that has held international appeal since the days of Satyajit Ray.”

But in Ramanathan’s opinion,it is the quality that makes all the difference today. “Digital technology has given access to everyone with a great story to express their art even at low costs.” And with the big production houses stepping in—feels Mahesh Manjarekar,who produced one of the biggest hits of 2009,Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy—the quality control is in place. “The production houses bear witness to the fact that language is no bar for regional cinema these days and is being viewed as world cinema. They no more hesitate in investing their money in a good script but also ensure that it has a wider reach,” says Manjarekar.

The budgets for regional cinema continue to be only a fraction of many blockbusters but Sane feels that films like Harishchandrachi and Mee Shivaji… are set to change that trend. What is remarkable,however,is that made at such nominal budgets,the regional films are way ahead in the festival circuits than mainstream Bollywood films. Natrang,after a successful innings in Maharashtra,is headed to Germany now and will open the Munich Film Festival. Last year,Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Janala premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year.

Oddly,the audience which goes to the cinema halls to watch the multi-star comedies prefers serious issues addressed in regional cinema. Sane puts it down to the more “rooted” nature of regional cinema. Talking about Zee Talkies’ next venture Gruhalaxmi—directed by theatre veteran Makrand Deshpande—Sane says that when regional films address the local issues at depth,it comes out more naturally and also showcases the culture of the region. “Look at Iranian or European cinema,they are all simple stories told at the ground level but often become worldwide classics. Whatever is local will always have a global appeal.”