The NYT takes a look at new wave Indian cinema:
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Being Cyrus |
Lately, a third type of Hindi cinema has emerged. It’s composed of smaller, offbeat films that are more realistic than Bollywood tales and edgier than art-house ones. The films have an urbane, uniquely Indian sensibility. Many, though not all, are in Hinglish, the hybrid of Hindi and English that is spoken in metropolitan India.
These films have none of the overt glamour or sunny disposition of mainstream movies. Emotions are messy, characters have pasts and endings aren’t always happy. But neither are the movies treatises on social issues far removed from the filmmakers’ own experience, like so much art-house cinema was… Grimness is no longer box office poison, however. The first hit of 2005 was “Page 3,” the director Madhur Bhandarkar’s scathing look at high society in Mumbai. It featured pedophilia, drug-fueled rave parties and unabashed nastiness… [Link]
Distribution is key:
But the current crop of Indian independents can count on far wider release, thanks in large part to the arrival of more multiplexes. The first Indian multiplex, the PVR Anupam, opened in New Delhi in June 1997. Until then most filmgoers patronized cavernous theaters with 1,000 to 1,500 seats…After the PVR Anupam opened, some state governments announced entertainment tax exemptions and prompted a multiplex boom. There are 73 multiplexes in India, with 276 screens and about 89,470 seats. The numbers are expected to increase to 135 multiplexes with more than 160,000 seats by the end of 2006…
The more affluent multiplex viewers have given filmmakers new fiscal and artistic freedom. “A film is a conversation,” said the director-producer Ram Gopal Varma… “The multiplex gives me flexibility and enables me to have a conversation with my intended target audience without worrying about small towns and villages…” [Link]
Related comments: Third I film fest
Just another day on the Mutiny.
O-hon-ly jo-ho-king 😉
Bhandarkar’s Chandni Bar wasn’t bad either but Page 3 was really good overall.
I also heard the story about the reporter and what happens with her major story is similar to what happened with Pranoy Roy. Don’t know to what extent that is true.
There are a lot of great Hindi/English movies that were not blockbusters. Off the top of my head, I can think of “Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi” and “My Brother Nikhil.”
all four movies previously mentioned are great. Also in the indie vein–though not quite so much the seedy side– is “Raghu Romeo” with Vijay Raaz.
Back me up, Cicatrix.
Does ‘Mitr’ count as a cross over flick? I was very impressed with it..
Raghu Romeo was lame! It was just on the other day and I thought it sounded interesting, but I was unimpressed.
I had best check out the films mentioned that I haven’t seen.
Movies like ‘Everybody say I am fine’ are a sure waste of time and money.
I am suprised that no one mentioned ‘Maine Ghandhiji Ko Nahi Maara’. An excellant movie with amazing performance. Hindi surely seems to be some-what on a right track…but still has a long road to travel.
oh DesiDancer…it pains me to see that I’ve failed you.
While you shouted out for backup, I was shivering in my bed, trying to control the trembles, shakes, sweats and purges that accompany sepiamutiny withdrawal. I tried to quit my addiction cold turkey, as they say, you see…
Today’s post, however, was like a dealer’s sample baggie. Mm, that sweet taste that will still never make me as thin as Nicole Ritchie. Damn you Manish. Damn you to Williamsburg forever!
oh, wait…nevermind.
Anyway, I haven’t seen Raghu Romeo, DD. Must rectify that immediately.