English is the language!

Rajat Kapoor's MIXED DOUBLES opened to a warm response. The critics have given it a thumbs-up and have tagged it as an impressive film with a good dash of humor. MIXED DOUBLES is about a couple who is facing a drench of marital boredom and wants to spice up their married life by experimenting. The idea of 'swapping' hits them and what follows is a turn of funny and hilarious events. The film stars director Rajat Kpaoor himself along with Konkona Sen and Ranvir Shourie.

Does this mean that 'English' films in India are getting niche response and can pick up in the future? No doubt, the multiplex culture has been crucial in the development but it is a welcome phase in Bollywood. There has always been a class for English films here in India and some movies in the past like Aparna Sen's 36 CHOWRANGI LANE and Nagesh Kukunoor's HYDERABAD BLUES have done decent business at the box-office.

So why was there such a lack of zest in promoting these small budget but thoroughly interesting films? Why weren't they scattered to the commonest of the people? It's accepted that today in India there is only a select section of audience who would flock to see these films that are too diverse from the staple masala stuff that Bollywood churns out every Friday. With a sizable population still unfamiliar with English, the scope of reaching to the multitude might be getting restricted. But now with multiplexes booming in cities and towns, there should be a keen effort on marketing these English films so that a majority of them get to see these films.

Secondly, with films made in English language it could be better to crack a slot on the international scene. English being the language of the world could make it easy to propel Indian films on the foreign frontage. Films in other Indian languages can be equally instrumental, not a question, but with English films you get that slight edge in obtaining the lead. The success of HAZAARON KHWAISHEIN AISI could be testimony to the fact. Sudhir Mishra's cult film that efficiently spinned a story about love, politics and friendship, was well-received at all international film festivals.

Similarly, Santosh Sivan's widely acclaimed TERRORIST was a phenomenal winner at the international film festivals getting rave reviews all across the globe. Hollywood star John Malkovich was so ballistic about the film that he took upon himself to distribute the film in America. John was a jury member at the Cairo international film festival when TERRORIST caught his attention. Mira Nair's KAMASUTRA had also grabbed good amount of money and was a big hit when it was released on the video.

In the recent past, a lot of English films have made their presence felt and received a lot of acknowledgement and appreciation. Rahul Boses' EVERYBODY SAYS I AM FINE (that has Carlos Santana's guitar riffs on its soundtrack) was a decent hit. Then there was Boman Iran's LET'S TALK, a slim budget film that was entirely shot on the digital video format. LET'S TALK made Boman the 'talk' of the town! Boman is a leading actor in Bollywood today and LET'S TALK was crucial to his career.

Then there was the recently released 15TH PARK AVENUE, which was directed by Aparna Sen and though the film was not a hit, it did garner some decent accolades in the media. Aparna Sen's previous flick MR AND MRS IYER, which was also a film made in the English language won a National Award and catapulted her daughter Konkona into the reckoning. MR AND MRS IYER also starred Rahul Bose whose forthcoming films are also English language flicks. He has done THE WHISPERERS that co-stars Manoj Bajpai. His film WHITE NOISE, which is the debut directorial flick of Vinta Nanda is ready for release after steering clear of all the legal hassles.

Today, every second filmmaker in Bollywood is making films keeping the international audience in mind. But the typical masala fare dished out in these movies might not attract the foreign audience in a big way. On the flipside, they might just turn out to exaggerate their notions about Bollywood films that is 'Indian films are all about songs and dances'. Foreigners are still not that serious about Bollywood potential and if that is to happen a film like BLACK needs to be encouraged. There's a report that ace director Mani Ratnam will embark on making an English film that will be produced by a leading Hollywood company. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai will star in the film that will be entirely shot in London.

So things are slowly but gradually changing and in the coming times the audience could witness a change in the architecture of Indian film industry. Some of the topmost filmmakers like Ram Gopal Varma are starting to walk down the line. Ramu is also planning to make an English film, if the rumors are to be believed. The film is titled WITHIN that is said to be a remake of his horror hit BHOOT.

So things are quite upbeat on this front and the future might just hold the best in store for Bollywood, you can bet!