It seems in a hurry to redefine the moral code, some of these films are glossing over the complexities and pitfalls of breaking the tradition. It says something about our decoding of cinematic language.
The cinematic device is the same but while the first one is considered a funny or cool metaphor, the latter is termed regressive, with one critic describing it as straight from the Jurassic Age. Cut to “Hamari Adhuri Kahaani” where the extramarital but true love of a mangalsutra clutching wife dies in a mine blast in Naxal infested area, the diya in front of her god also loses life. When Rani in “Queen” talks to her father and brother over Skype and Vijaylakshmi enters the room wearing a deep neck top, suddenly winds start flowing in Delhi, putting out the candle in the process. The film made many of us reflect that how we, in the flurry of urbane, female-led tales, are losing touch with that good old heroine for whom shedding centuries of values is a complex emotional journey and not a fun trip to Europe. But then comes a “Hamari Adhuri Kahani” and you realise their worth. In the flood of comedies sometimes one feels that handkerchiefs are losing their primary purpose in theatres. “It is an everyday reality for most of us but still when anything goes amiss, they are the first we distrust.” When charged with a petty theft, the maid retorts that if she wanted to steal she would have walked away with the lap top. “I wanted to give these marginalised characters a voice,” says Shoojit Sircar.
#Story of badlapur ki daian drivers#
The car drivers and their boss are organically weaved into the story cutting quite a few stereotypes in the process. In both the films the fathers found it odd but the younger protagonists are cool about it. Be it Tanu’s flirting with a rickshaw-wallah or the maid refusing to serve Piku’s father, we are seeing an urge to break the class brackets. It could be felt in “Hunterr”, which is unapologetically adult and “Margarita With A Straw” which deals with the desires of the physically disabled.Īnother interesting development is our filmmakers are beginning to deal with class barriers without making a show of it. Sriram Raghavan felt that freedom in “Badlapur” where he draws from the dark recesses of human mind. The smaller budgets are allowing directors to be true to the genre, characters and ambience. They have suffered on “Detective Byomkesh Bakshy” and “Bombay Velvet” in different degrees, but the point is they lost it on new experiments rather than pushing a formula. Fox Studios is investing in “Kaaka Muttai” and “Miss Tanakpur” and Viacom18 is backing “Margarita With A Straw”. So Yash Raj backs an absolutely rooted and well-rounded “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”, where an over-weight girl walked away with rich applause. A Rs.15 crore-film making 30 crores at the box office is a better bet than Rs.70 crore film making 75 crores. The industry is realising the value of putting money on content rather than splurging on big names. Lying in the cold bag for a couple of years, “I Love New York” was a Sunny Deol film. It is very rare for a Hindi film heroine when her canned film finds a lease of life because of her current status at the box office.
In contrast Kangana Ranaut has emerged as the biggest star of the year so far.
When he played a character in “Baby”, both the critics and audience responded but when he tried to bulldoze his star image through in “Gabbar”, he was sent packing after the initial buzz. It has been a year where star value is eroding and the content is making its presence felt. 2015 may not have blockbusters in its shelf yet but so far it has turned out to be a year when the critic and the audience are often on the same side. When a tale of two slum kids from Tamil Nadu aspiring for a slice of pizza (“Kaaka Muttai”) makes a mark at the national box office, you know that the change is not superficial and one dimensional. In times of selfie with daughter when a film with a Haryanvi athlete as its tour de force turns out to be the only film to cross 100 crore mark in the first six months, you realise that some churning is happening in the society that is getting reflected on screen.