It is all about storytelling...

Still from from Taare Zameen Par More picsBollywood is rediscovering its romance with scripts that go beyond the obvious and the ordinary.
And as script driven films which focus on a particular issue continue to taste success at the box office, it is becoming clearer that gone are the days of a film that relied on a few songs and fluffy glamour.
From films like My Brother Nikhil, Black, Iqbal, Chak De! India and to the more recent additions like Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara, Taare Zameen Par and, U Me aur Hum, it seems like scriptwriters are no longer a superfluous accessory for a director!
Not that there is any less finesse or glamour in these films.These mainstream films are treading the gentle path between an art film and a so called masala film. Director Onir rightly points out, ���Glamour is simply indispensable. I really doubt whether Taare Zameen Par could have become such a big hit without having a star actor like Aamir Khan playing the lead.���
Onir received critical acclaim for the film My Brother Nikhil, a movie that talked about homosexuality and AIDS. He believes that it is important to keep the language acceptable and understandable for the audience. He says, ���Since we wanted people to hear and understand us without shocking them, we kept the name of our movie My Brother Nikhil instead of something like My Lover Nikhil. We didn���t want it to be a threat to people���s sensibilities. We didn���t want our film to receive a reception similar to the movie Fire.���
Actress Divya Dutta who has been a part of the recent release U Me aur Hum says, ���While taking up any such project, I just tend to weigh the kind of possibilities the movie offers me in terms of acting.��� Amole Gupte who was the writer and creative director of Taare Zameen Par believes that apart from thorough research, ���a movie needs to get as generic as it can get for the audience. We have to make the movie easy to understand and being preachy is a strict no-no. One needs to represent an issue accurately so that the audience learns to empathise with it.���
Film critic Indu Mirani comments on the scenario, ���While there may have been many films made on sensitive subjects, the fact is that not every film strikes a chord with the audience. When we talk of recent hits like Taare Zameen Par and Chak De; these movies clearly have much more to them in terms of music, glamour, performance, characters and the general storyline than just dealing with a sensitive issue. For example Chak De is not just about team spirit but also about small town girls and their aspirations, about struggle and winning. The same story could have been made into a boring one as well. Telling the story in a realistic manner and more importantly keeping it realistic helps.���
The perfect recipe to a block buster success now seems to be sensitive portrayal plus a genuine script.
amrita.didyala@timesgroup.com