This story is from March 17, 2012

Is comedy dying in Tollywood?

They���������re funny in parts, but today���������s comedies are no patch on the classics. Is it enough to just blame producers and scriptwriters?
Is comedy dying in Tollywood?
Relationship tales, drawing-room drama, thrillers ��������� Tollywood churns these out by the dozen, but when it comes to comedy, laughter seems to have vanished from the industry.
That���������s not to say that studiopara doesn���������t try its hand at comedy now and then. We���������ve watched ���������Bye Bye Bangkok���������, ���������Goray Gondogol���������, ���������Brakefail���������, ���������Cross Connection���������, ���������Notobor Not Out��������� and the most recent, ���������Bhooter Bhobisyot���������, but none of them can hold a lamp to classics like ���������Boshonto Bilaap���������, ���������Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne���������, ���������Mohunbaganer Meye���������, ���������Mouchak���������, ���������Shaare Chuattor���������, ���������Dhonyi Meye���������, ���������Bhanu Pelo Lottery���������, ���������Golpo Holeo Sotti��������� or ���������Jamaloye Jibanto Manush���������, feel comedy buffs.
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The actor factor
Some say that there are no actors of the calibre of a Robi Ghosh, Jahar Roy, Nipoti, Bhanu Bandopadhyay, Chinmoy Roy or Santosh Dutta. But others argue that the likes of Kharaj Mukherjee, Biswanath Basu, Kanchan Mullick, Rudranil Ghosh, Paran Bandopadhyay, Rajatava Dutta and Subhasish Mukerjee have shown ��������� even if in flashes ��������� that they can produce nuanced comic performances.
Says director Anik Dutta, whose ���������Bhooter Bhobisyot��������� in a funny take on the plight of ghosts in the face of rapid urbanization, ���������Earlier, the pace of life was different, where people had the time for long adda sessions. That form of interaction is missing. Instead, we see a form of dark humour. Some movies like ���������Baishey Srabon��������� did reflect a wry sense of humour in lines such as ���������whisky chole na toh ki Bournvita chole?���������"

Director Aniket Chattopadhyay, however, feels that people haven���������t forgotten to laugh. ���������The problem is the urban obsession with so-called serious cinema. Comedy is a much more difficult genre. Even the shot-taking has to be different. If you see Ray���������s comedies, you will find only two to three close-ups of actors. But fed on a diet of Uttam-Suchitra films, our directors want 30-40 close-ups of protagonists while directing comedies. Technically, that harms the film. Besides, one needs a balanced script. Though I���������ve managed to make people laugh, in hindsight I realize that I had gone overboard while directing certain scenes in ���������Bye Bye Bangkok���������. There is a dearth of good scriptwriters in Tollywood. Ramaprasad Banik did some interesting work on TV but if things were really great, we would���������ve had one comic megaserial after another by now.���������
The bigger picture
Kharaj Mukherjee says that more than able scriptwriters, actors or directors, convincing producers to invest in comedies is the biggest problem. ���������Some good work is happening. If there is a ���������BB��������� on the one hand, you have Raja Chanda���������s South remake of a comedy titled ���������Le Halua Le���������. But getting producers for comedies is the biggest hurdle. You can���������t have another ���������Bhranti Bilash���������. So you need to move on and experiment. But talk about experimentation and you���������ll hardly get producers. How will people think of adapting Shibram Chakraborty, Sanjib Chattopadhyay and Rajshekhar Basu���������s works?���������
Subhankar Chattopadhyay, director of ���������Mirakkel��������� and ���������Handa & Bhonda���������, concurs, ���������One needs producers who are ready to give freedom to directors. Making a successful comedy as a reality show is one thing but making a hit out of a comedy on celluloid quite another.���������
Director Sudeshna Roy who made ���������Teen Yaari Katha��������� with Abhijit Guha, says she has tried to add comic elements to her films. ���������It���������s not that one has to make a comedy to express the comic elements of life. If that was the case, one would call ���������Modern Times��������� a comedy. We tried to do that with ���������Cross Connection��������� and ���������TYK���������. We are planning a film on a modern marriage that deals with the seven-year itch.���������
���������Notobor Not Out��������� director Amit Sen says that given the current situation of Bengali films, where laughter is forced by mundane gags, the need for wit and intelligent humour has died. ���������In this age of instant gratification, cinematic humour is a dying art form. Most filmmakers probably want to dabble in more serious issues. Also, there is this fear that if you are doing comedy, you will not be taken seriously!��������� Sen says, adding, ���������I���������ll recommend films of Aniket Chattopadhyay, Rangan Chakraborty, Kaushik Ganguly and Anik Dutta. They have all been churning out films which have comedy as the basic spine. With the change in emerging patterns of Bengali cinema, I���������m sure comedy will again be something to write home about.��������� Touchwood!
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