Aparita

Toronto Star, [04/02/2004]

 

New generation of Indian film Projects screen at ReelWorld

APARITA BHANDARI

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

 

Mumbai, India — Until recently, most of the projects produced by the Indian film industry have been old-school, big-budget movies with song and dance sequences, and a melodramatic plot that prides itself in covering romance, comedy, drama, tragedy and action, all in the space of at least three hours.

But the Bollywood blockbuster is gradually losing its monopoly on the movie industry. A new genre is emerging that is more reality-focused and shot on much smaller budgets.

Two such movies - Joggers’s Park and Raghu Romeo, a Bollywood indie film - will screen at the fourth annual ReelWorld Film Festival in Toronto tonight and tomorrow, respectively.

“We still have songs and dances, but our heroes don’t change their costumes 17 times,” says Pritish Nandy, chairman of Pritish Nandy Communications, which recently released Chameli, a Pretty Woman-type story that was shot in 30 days and cost $66,000 (U.S.) to make. “The (new) films aren’t larger than life. They’re a slice of life. I make movies that I want to watch. My movies aren’t a variety program; they’re etched in the contemporary Indian urban sensibility.”

Pankaj Sethi, the chief executive of Mukta Arts, refers to Jogger’s Park as a niche film.

Niche films, says Sethi, generally run about 30 prints as opposed to 250-300 prints required for Bollywood blockbusters. Their budgets of about $1 million are miniscule compared to the $3 million big banner Bollywood films.

“Over the past five years, there’s been a proliferation of multiplexes in India, and this has allowed for smaller screens, especially in the urban centres,” says Sethi. “It has allowed us to experiment with films.

“It’s actually a chicken-and-egg thing. There was a transition already happening. It’s becoming harder and harder to make pan-Indian films that talk to the diverse communities of India. Smaller films, aimed at urban centres, are becoming more common.”

There’s a change in the urban Indian sensibility, partly to do with cable television and easy access to recent Hollywood movies in Indian theatres. To address the change, niche films inherently have a story or concept that goes beyond the formulaic Bollywood ploys, says Sethi.

“You can call Jogger’s Park a film for the MTV generation,” he says. “The lead role of Jenny is of a 28- to 30-year-old model living in Mumbai, who jogs at Jogger’s Park, an actual place in upscale Mumbai. The story has to do with Jenny’s relationship with an older man.”

Raghu Romeo, the directorial venture of Bollywood actor Rajat Kapoor, falls into the indie category. Vijay Raaz (Monsoon Wedding) plays the title role of a waiter in a topless bar who falls for a TV soap opera character.

Although Kapoor received some funding from the National Film Development Corporation of India, and had saved up some money from his previous acting and modelling assignments, he was still short by a couple of million rupees. So he e-mailed friends, asking if they could invest.

With 38 names, the producers’ list in the credits for Raghu Romeo might be a little longer than normal. But Kapoor is thankful he got to make the film.

“People sent me e-mails from all over the world, saying they can help - act, sing, dance, make Web sites - for free,” he says. “It shows they believe in this kind of cinema.”

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