Though Tollywood is churning out a huge number of movies on the film industry, most of them are dealing with clich������s. Is the audience���������s over-exposure to the film world alone making it difficult for directors to push the envelope?Tollywood seems to be reeling under a fad to make movies on the industry. From ���������Abohomaan���������, ���������Khela���������, ���������Houseful���������, ���������Angshumaner Chhobi���������, ���������Sukno Lanka���������, ���������Ekti Tarar Khonje��������� to ���������Aar Ekti Premer Golpo��������� and ���������Autograph��������� ��������� all these films have been inspired by the industry.
Yet, why do some say that compared to the kind of layered movies on the industry that were made by the likes of Satyajit Ray (���������Nayak���������), Mrinal Sen (���������Akaler Sandhane���������) and Shyam Benegal (���������Bhumika���������), recent ones haven���������t pushed the envelope too far? Is that the true picture or simply a nostalgia-inspired remark?
Says actor
Barun Chanda, ���������Film-within-film or films on the industry don���������t necessarily make an advance on the quality of films. This is a reflection of many more directors going autobiographical. Many directors have a personal statement to make on the industry. Among the contemporary movies on the industry, I���������ve liked the way ���������Angshumaner Chhobi��������� and have a lot of expectations from ���������Autograph���������.���������
Says Kaushik Ganguly, director of ���������Aar Ekti Premer Golpo���������, insists that his movie isn���������t based on the industry per se. ���������It���������s about a small unit of a documentary film-maker. Movies on the film industry still deal with clich������s and haven���������t moved beyond the same old stories of a loud commercial film director, struggling underdogs, casting couch and extra-marital affairs. Unless these stories are told in an exciting manner, such films wouldn���������t appeal to me. Besides, directors often use nuances and idioms that the masses are familiar with either,��������� Ganguly says, adding, ���������If the quality of films on the industry aren���������t good enough, it could also be because of the dearth of talent. I, for one, am not talented enough.��������� While genius can���������t be copied, it���������s a fact there are certain private aspects about the industry might not ethically lend themselves to cinema.
���������Autograph������������������s director Srijit Mukherjee believes that in today���������s times it���������s difficult to engage the audience with stories of the film industry simply because of greater exposure. ���������DVDs are available on the making of movies. That makes it difficult for us to find matter that would create an aura about the film world,��������� admits Srijit. Yet, Srijit believes that some experiments are being made in contemporary films. ���������I loved the layering in Rituparno Ghosh���������s ���������Abohomaan���������. I loved the way Ghosh showed the echo in the relationship between Aniket and Srimonti and that between Girish Ghose and Nati Binodini.��������� Srijit himself has experimented with the narrative structure of ���������Autograph���������. He has deliberately maintained the illusion between real and reel. In addition, he has changed the style of shot-taking along with the change in the narrative.
Though Chanda hasn���������t been impressed by too many recent films on the industry, he has given the nod to a first-time director who wants him to play a corporate financer wanting to make a film that will bomb! ���������My character has been hearing that he has not tasted failure and hence, he decides to produce a film. But once the film is ready, one doesn���������t know whether it���������s really going to fail,��������� Chanda says. Perhaps, the decision to have a film on the movie financier is a first of its kind in Tollywood.
Incidentally, Bandopadhyay���������s next bears a striking similarity to Kangna Ranaut���������s recent brush with an obsessive fan. ���������One of the four stories of my movie is about such an obsessive fan, who thinks he is in a relationship with a heroine. I was shocked to find that Kangna has faced such a situation. In my film, Paoli plays a character who experiences what Kangna has done in real life,��������� Bandopadhyay adds.
Seems like some interesting work is in the offing. If the concepts don���������t get lost in translation, it���������ll be exciting to see Tollywood holding a new mirror to itself.
Labour of loveKaushik Ganguly���������s ���������Aar Ekti Premer Golpo��������� that stars Rituparno Ghosh, Indraneil Sengupta and Raima Sen, among others, will have its premiere at New York���������s iView Film Festival on September 24. ���������I will be going to New York to attend the premiere. My film will be screened at the London Film Festival in October. If everything goes well, we will be releasing the movie in December,��������� says Ganguly.