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The Bollygood decade
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| Gripping tales, rising bikini lines… the last ten years set the benchmark for film-making in B-town By Bidisha Ghosal It is all a great big blur. Things changed so fast in the industry that the decade went by in a flash. Cinematically speaking, the 90s were only slightly less embarrassing than the 80s. Disco lights and shoulder pads made way for family dramas hell-bent on milking tear ducts dry. The Chopras, Bharjatiyas and the like dished out the family saga which, while thoroughly enjoyable, did not connect with Gen-Next. All that changed in 2001 with Dil Chahta Hai. Farhan Akhtar can be given credit for single-handedly raising the bar in film-making and ushering in the urban lifestyle on screen. As Sid (Akshaye Khanna), Akash (Aamir Khan) and Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) careened their way through college, road trips and love, an entire generation of youngsters that previous film-makers had dismissed as a myth sprang to its feet and clapped. The new millennium of Bollywood had officially begun. Everything from hairstyles to clothes to interiors and music was updated. Hair gels and sprays saw a boost in sales, design schools excitedly discussed the blue of Sameer's room and parents were stunned by what they saw—an unabashed contemporary zest for life that Akhtar tempered with romance. His last release, Rock On!!, had the best modern interiors seen in Bollywood till date and brisk dialogues. The penchant for striking contemporary visuals obviously runs in the family; his sister Zoya carried the torch forward with Luck By Chance and, according to many, outshone him. A new path was chalked out for the distinct bar code. Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Vishal Bharadwaj, Onir, Imtiaz Ali and the like arrived. Each found allies in stars looking to inject freshness into their careers (Kareena Kapoor), devil-may-care mavericks (Abhay Deol) and actors whom big banners were giving a wide berth (Neha Dhupia). Small-budget films proved to be the dark horse of the decade with Bheja Fry, Ek Chalis ki Last Local and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! not only becoming sleeper hits of their respective years, but boosting careers across the board. UTV Motion Pictures even siphoned off a part of its resources towards small-budget films alone with UTV Spotboy. In fact, this decade witnessed the marriage between the paan-chewing director and the suave corporate house. Money flowed. Staggering figures were bandied about only to be denied later. And huge amounts of money were lost as well with debacles like Chandni Chowk to China, Kambakkht Ishq and Tashan. Amit Khanna, chairman of Reliance Big Entertainment, says that while no one can predict hits and flops, each company has its own game plan. "Reliance is a diversified company and we judge each film on its own merit, regardless of [the] budget," he says. "Budgets should make sense in accordance with storylines." The storyline has taken a front seat, at least in the politically correct lingo. Kashyap created one of the defining moments of Bollywood with Dev.D as he cleverly and painstakingly adapted a century-old classic into a modern tale of angst. All three of his releases, including No Smoking and Gulaal, were as different from each other as chalk is to cheese is to soda. His next, The Girl in the Yellow Boots, is a thriller, a genre Kashyap has not attempted before. Dibakar is ready with his next, Love, Sex aur Dhokha, a "film that isn't one". Its digital format is not the only talking point; it is a neo-reality show with professional actors forming just a part of the cast. The rest? Your average Joes and Janes who didn't know about the hidden cameras. "Look up film history," he wrote on a film web site. "In the 1890s, cinema as we know started with film clips a few seconds long about trains coming into station, people crossing roads, a juggler juggling and yes, a woman taking a bath. People would pay a nickel and peep into a small screen and watch the birth of a new way of life. We could be at another similar threshold, a century and small change later." Cinema certainly is on the brink of a new era as audiences show their preference for real-life tales. Astonishingly, the producer is the queen of TV soapdom—Ekta Kapoor. The business of film-making certainly has changed in varying degrees. The script still comes second to the co-star as Bollywood continues to function like one big family. Case in point: Kareena Kapoor jumped aboard 3 Idiots without thinking about the script simply because trust in the Aamir-Raju Hirani combination was greater. With the entry of technology in Bollywood, actors turn co-producers to prevent budgets from escalating. Akshay Kumar states that he has invested in each of his films since Singh is Kinng just to bring costs down. "Budget a film right, and you will never deliver a flop," is his mantra. "I am co-producing all my films, except those being made by the Nadiadwalas." The small film may not have its share of business-savvy actors but it does have more takers than ever before. UTV, Reliance and Planman are more than willing to provide springboards for the small kids on the block. But just as the financing structure decided to ease up on film-makers, gambling on mavericks like Kashyap and Bharadwaj, the clamp tightened around the cine-lover. With popcorn at Rs 75, Coke at Rs 50 and tickets at Rs 300 apiece, a trip to the movies became something one had to "be able to afford". It was no longer about the movie alone, but about whether the seats reclined or not and whether we have a choice between Tibbs's frankies and the American hot dog. The film-watching experience intensified to the point of white heat ?when Reliance opened up a fine-dine kitchen in its theatres. Combining noodles with noodle straps is perfect for cities like Mumbai where hectic lifestyles draw in the moolah, but make the pursuit of leisure a stressful occupation. However, the trend might just disappear soon, thanks to the growing recognition of DTH (direct to home), DVD releases and the internet as legitimate revenue sources. First it was Aa Dekhen Zara that released quickly on DTH after burning its reels during the distributors' strike. More recently, Main or Mrs Khanna opted for a DTH launch within a week of its theatrical release and thus have no say in the time lapse between theatrical and living room releases. Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani hit the small screens on December 27, 2009, a few short weeks after its theatrical release. The satellite rights of De Dana Dan and Paa were also snapped up within a week of their releases. This boosts poor BO performances by salvaging flops, and enhances business for hits. The strongest catalyst for this phenomenon is that films today are distributed by the producers themselves. Old-hat distributors are not willing to bet exorbitant sums in a highly unpredictable market anymore. The market has, however, opened up considerably to sex and its matters. Kissing is no longer the prerogative of flowers, and the white sari made way for the bikini. The decade has seen a more body-conscious and sexually liberated Bollywood emerge. Hrithik Roshan set the tone when he flaunted his buff bod in Kaho Naa… Pyar Hai. The fitness industry was regenerated overnight. Stars started swearing by their trainers and nutritionists who sought their own slice of the fame pie through books and TV shows. Top stars (read: SRK and Aamir) got into a 'pack' race as forever-hotties Salman and Akshay looked on. But there were two distinct high points. One, when Hrithik and Aishwarya Rai discarded their goody-goody images for badder pastures in Dhoom:2 and when Kareena rose, sylph-like, from the ocean in a lime green bikini. Both Hrithik and Ash have had a quiet couple of last years, but are ready to come out with guns blazing with Kites, Guzaarish, Raavan and Action Replay. John Abraham sent the girls and gay community into a tizzy when he yanked his swimming trunks down a tad in Dostana, just as Abhishek Bachchan had the audiences laughing out loud at his 'queenie' antics on screen. Onir's sensitively made My Brother Nikhil will be as well-remembered as Tarun Mansukhani's Dostana for bringing homosexuality out of the closet and from behind bars. With the deletion of Section 377 homosexuality certainly promises to be bigger and bolder on screen. What has blown wide open unpredictably so is the phenomenon of the star zooming around the media and interacting with fans directly. Amitabh Bachchan and Ram Gopal Varma took on their detractors and voiced their innermost thoughts online, Sonam Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra tweeted about their daily activities and Shahid Kapoor switched profile names on Facebook and entire fanbases were a click away. The media correspondingly morphed into a shadow of the Hollywood paparazzi as it bombarded fans with the most minuscule of details about the stars' lives. Sycophancy might just stop the situation from escalating into a Hollywood-like situation, of course, as our reverence for stars is greater. But there is no doubt that gossip goes beyond even the avid Bollywood buff. Today the world is agog at our movie industry, as A.R. Rahman and Resul Pookutty walk away with Oscars and four musicians vie for a Grammy. Overwhelming is perhaps the only word for the Bolly-decade that has gone by. |
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