JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Mirroring The Industry: Why is Bollywood failing; Has the industry lost conviction to back the right directors?
Rohit Shetty, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Anees Bazmee and now, Sooraj Barjatya – Is old school the new school of entertainment? Is it time to back commercial cinema? Read details
The last year has been tough for the Hindi Film Industry. The only films to have emerged as hits include Sooryavanshi, Gangubai, The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, and Brahmastra. There is moderate success in the form of Jug Jugg Jeeyo and the hope is on Uunchai also to emerge as a decent grosser by the end of its run. Barring the aforementioned films, everything that was released for big-screen entertainment didn’t perform as well as expected.
Most of the above-mentioned hits were also riding on the strength of directors and their conviction – from Rohit Shetty to Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, Anees Bazmee, and Sooraj Barjatya. There’s Ayan Mukerji too, who is known by the youth for creating pop culture cinema like Wake Up Sid and Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. But where are we going wrong? It seems that the core reason for the failure of the industry is the fact that most of the actors, producers and even the agencies are not believing in the conviction of directors.
Before the year started, Anees Bazmee and Sooraj Barajtya were written off by most in the industry. There was always a chatter that Anees would make an outdated film in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, but the results are for everyone to see. It took Kartik Aaryan’s faith in the director, by going against the tide for him to explode this big at the box office. A director also needs the right team and the right energy to deliver. While Rohit Shetty, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali are among the directors to have created a brand in themselves and are in a position where the entire industry wants to work with them, there are some who are lost in the jungle called Bollywood.
Post Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Anees has also redeemed himself as a director in demand and has the support of not just producers, but also Kartik. Today he is the most sought-after director and also reiterates the idea of how important factor confidence is to deliver a commercial film. Sooraj Barjatya, on the other hand, has Salman Khan’s support and the duo will next year kick off their ambitious family drama. Same for Ayan Mukerji, whose conviction was backed by Ranbir Kapoor for years, without any ado. But what about some of the big directors, who are now redundant and dated due to no work?
Abbas Mustan, who delivered a hit film with Kapil Sharma back in 2015, have been struggling to set up a theatrical project since then. There was Machine, which they made for their son, but everyone deserves another chance. Most of the actors and their teams have written them off, without knowing the fact that they still had a lot in them to offer. Can a comeback happen? Well, that’s destiny. But when a director isn’t working with a worthy team for a long time, they are bound to lose touch. “It happens in sports too. You don’t play for a long time, and the comeback becomes difficult. Abbas Mustan went out of work even after delivering a hit film. The audience understood their hit film, but the industry felt, it was a fluke from their end,” informed an insider.
Another top director from the 90s once met a studio to narrate a film. Post the narration, the studio head gave a long list of what’s wrong with the film and how it’s still stuck in the 90s. The filmmaker heard them out and also agreed to the fact that he might be stuck in times but signed off saying a dialogue that irked the studio honcho. “If I go by what you say, then I have to admit that Harsha Bhogle could have been a better player than Sachin Tendulkar.” While Anees kept himself relevant by continuing to work, some directors failed to get the required technicians on their films, and sub-standard teams in turn impacted their positioning in the industry.
Farah Khan, whose last film, Happy New Year is a Super Hit, is struggling to set up a project since then. Why? Well, the industry and the agencies in there felt, “Happy New Year was tacky, over the top, and worked merely on stardom and festival”. But that’s certainly not the case, as 8 films were released in the same festive period and just one could surpass the footfalls of Happy New Year. Farah certainly made films that her neighbours in Juhu and Andheri might not understand, but there is a wider audience, who prefers unabashed entertainment. She might fail, but she is among those rare in modern times that has it in her to deliver a big commercial entertainer that succeeds at the box office.
“Her script might not have excited the actors, but even without reading it, we can assure you that the theatrical prospects of her film will be much higher than all the subjects that are green-lit in today’s time. The biggest of the directors need the right team to deliver. The biggest of the directors need someone to back their convictions. Lack of faith will also shatter the confidence of all directors and in turn, impact their craft,” the insider told us. The industry seems to be having a simple way of functioning – ‘We don’t understand commercial cinema, it’s dated and tacky. But the minute someone shows faith in a director and he succeeds, he becomes the man in demand”
There are many more who were shown the door over the last decade due to the modernization and corporatization of the industry. Rajkumar Santoshi, who made films like Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani and Phata Poster Nikla Hero, was trying to reunite with several top names last decade, but none of them showed interest. And to think of it, Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani was a hit and Phata Poster Nikla Hero was anything but a dated film, as it was certainly a case of script gone wrong. The treatment was as modern as it gets. “Raj Ji didn’t get any actors and now, after being home for so long and not working with the right technicians, producers and actors, how can one expect him to make a comeback? A bigger and right film post-Phata Poster would have kept him relevant. But the ideology of deserting top directors is bound to make them rusty and dated. It happens in all professions. It’s not the director’s fault, if he gets the right work, he will keep himself updated. But what’s the point when most in the industry are preferring gloss and guarded words in English over simplicity and Hindi conversations?” the industry insider shared in anger before signing off.
What do you guys feel? Has the industry lost conviction to back the commercial directors?
Latest Articles
