Few takers for serious cinema

Films based on women issues like Gauri – The Unborn and Provoked have failed to click with the masses, says Vimla Patil

Marketing is the soul of success of a Bollywood film today. "Today, with the network of multiplexes spreading their tentacles into the entrails of smaller towns, the ‘life’ of a movie is barely five to seven weeks after release," says a leading distributor, "Thus, a film has to wrap up its collection within the first week of its release and book its full investment and profit immediately within the next week."

Bhavna Kirpal, a businesswoman who finances smaller films, adds, "No one has time today. Everybody is stressed out and in a hurry to achieve. Films today have to cater to this kind of youth. Therefore, the best way for a film to make profit is to market it in every possible way through ads, events, novelties, appearances on television shows, star appearances, media controversies and stories of fake or real romances, star couple breakups and a horde of other ideas so that the curiosity of filmgoers is whetted to the utmost even before the film is released. There is an ‘artificialness’ about these promotions but there is no alternative."

This brings forth the question whether there is a slot for films that have a message for society. Where and how does an issue-based film get released? How can it impact society as the producer or director wants? How can makers of such films sustain themselves and make reasonable profits especially in a fast-changing society like India where millions of people have diagonally opposite lifestyle. The first genre of films like Om Shanti Om cater to the rich or the on-their-way-to riches crowd in India and, of course, the already rich NRI audience. Such films aim purely at entertaining crowds and making money. OSO is said to have made the highest profit ever by a Bollywood film.

"But let’s look at other kind of films, too. There are producers and directors who feel strongly about social issues or those historical moments that have shaped our psyche. However, films based on these issues are defeated at the box office or put on the backburner permanently.

Surprisingly, even among issue-based films, there are preferences. Some, made with huge star value by big production houses, often see success. Take the example of Chak De India — based on the issue of building up the Indian spirit and the pride of taking India to a resounding win in an international hockey match by a disparate team of women coming from various parts of India with their family baggage, education and various levels of deprivations. The movie made Chak De India the mantra of victory — for India’s cricket team during the 20-20 World Cup and even for the Congress during the recent Gujarat elections.

"But insiders say the movie made an impact mainly due to Shah Rukh Khan and the screenplay written by Jaideep Sahni. Add to this the issue of national pride concerns a huge population of young Indians currently under 30, and are looking for leadership to inspire them in a distressing social and political scenario."

But the same success has not crowned other ‘issue-based’ films, especially those that focus on the concerns of women. "The moment a film highlights a ‘women’s issue’, the audience become half the population of India. Unless they are highly sensitised, men are not interested in domestic violence, female foeticide, dowry deaths, rape or the suffering of women," says Sudha Sheshan, a film commentator, "Thus, excellent films like Prakash Jha’s Mrityudand with Madhuri Dixit and Shabana Azmi; Chandra Prakash Dwivedi’s Pinjar and several films by Kalpana Lajmi have vanished into the mists of the past without a whimper. More recently, Manish Jha, a young and enterprising director, made Matrubhooi, based on the theme of a ‘nation without women’. It talked about the massive destruction of female foetuses and the resulting dangerous gender equation in many states. It, too, bit the dust, because filmgoers did not find it ‘entertaining’.

This film, made with Tulip Joshi and Sushant in the lead, did not boast of a star cast or big production values. Similarly, Deepa Mehta’s small-budget trilogy Fire, Water and Earth, with subjects like lesbianism, the condition of widows and the tragedy of Partition, did middle-order business in India.

"Even though Provoked starred the world’s most beautiful woman Aishwarya Rai and was produced in the UK and took inspiration from a real life case — it did not provoke audiences enough to make it a thundering success. And now, Gauri — The Unborn has taken a bashing at the box office, proving that women’s issue-based films — domestic violence, foeticide, prostitution, degradation and ill treatment etc — are a no-no for the denizens of the ‘enjoy’ culture of young Indians. Reviews of Gauri said it did not shock people as much as it should have and thus could not be considered a ‘horror film’."

Is there no hope for issue-films in India? Yes and no, say observers. Madhur Bhandarkar’s Chandni Bar made on a small budget got Tabu a National Award for Best Actress.

"Usually, issue-based films are made on small budgets and have comparatively small stars," says Uday Raj Sharma, a film writer, "People today are not interested in issues which do not touch their own lives. If urban young women are free from abuse, financially independent and able to fight for their rights, they are not interested in the issues that concern poor or rural women. Men are not interested in such films because they do not touch their lives."

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