Seventies Uncanned

There’s talk on the streets of tinsel town. Movie mogul Firoz Nadiadwalahas joined hands with middle-of-the-road craftsman Kundan Shah for a comedy starring AnilKapoor and Manisha Koirala. Television software major Plus Channel has commissioned aseries of films by some of our most respected offbeat directors. Amol Palekar has securedprivate funding for his Madhu Sapre-Milind Soman film. Ketan Mehta, despite the OhDarling fiasco, is on to his next stop— a Jackie Shroff thriller. And, hold yourbreath, tunesmith Bappi Lahiri is financing Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s next film. Bollywoodis perhaps finally ready to wrench itself free from the pincer-grip of The Formula.

Not that the formula spool is in any danger of being junked just because it’sscratchy from overuse; the old logic still powers the industry. But recent liaisonssuggest that low-budget non-formula films, quite the rage in the ’70s, may liveagain. Their space on the marquee is indeed being restored.

Leading the pack is Plus Films, the film production division of Bombay-based PlusChannel. On the anvil are a dozen films, helmed by directors like Mrinal Sen, ShyamBenegal, Sai Paranjpe, Gautam Ghosh and Sudhir Mishra as well as box office heavyweightsMahesh Bhatt, Balu Mahendra, Raj N. Sippy and N. Chandra. "It’s a hearteningdevelopment," says Shah, who will begin shooting his as yet untitled film forNadiadwala in November.

Today, production giants acknowledge the viability of non-formula quickies. At the sametime, yesterday’s auteurs are veering round to the view that a film can reachout without sacrificing aesthetics. "There’s room for everyone now, enoughoutlets. Committed cinema can co-exist with formula," exults Aruna Raje. Bhairavi,her musical for Plus, is in pre-production.

Shah’s is a classic case. His upcoming film will, like Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa,contain a clutch of song-and-dance routines. And he’s not apologetic: "They arean integral narrative element. After Jaane Bhi..., I was compelled to make a filmwith songs. Now I quite enjoy it. You can’t lay down rules. Good cinema is anythingthat works without insulting audience intelligence. ’’

That’s just the kind of cinema that is receiving a fillip from unexpectedquarters. "Bappi Lahiri’s conduct has been a revelation," says theCalcutta-based Buddhadeb Dasgupta. His film, to be made in Bengali, will have nosongs— Lahiri will handle a spare score. "I’ll exercise complete control oncontent and execution," says Dasgupta.

Another Bengali who has found a backer in Bombay is Rituparno Ghosh, whose UnisheApril won this year’s Best Feature Film award. Basu Chatterjee, synonymous with’70s middle cinema, has offered to produce Ghosh’s next effort, Sab CharitraKalpanik. It’s due to go on the floors in Calcutta in early November with a Rs 18lakh budget. Chatterjee is also preparing to make Gudgudi, an Anupam Kher comedy,for Plus. "I’ve played my innings, with 35 films in under 25 years. Youngerfilmmakers should now be encouraged."

The directors are, expectedly, all praise for Plus. Says Sen: "They’veassured me their job ends with production. I’ll be free to make what I want."Mishra, who is half-way through Nishachar, a thriller, concurs: "Our brief isnot to make a typical commercial product." For him, Nishachar is a departurefrom "anything I’ve done before". The film, he says, will be a purethriller, "not a mish-mash of genres, not a navaras film " .

Do such films stand a chance in a mart where high art is a liability?"Definitely," says Amit Khanna, Plus Channel’s managing director. "Ifa film is interesting, selling is no problem at all." The 12 films being produced byKhanna on a tight budget and schedule will be ready for release in a year.

Recovering costs will be easy, feels Chatterjee. "Even if a film doesn’tattract distributors, a TV premiere can fetch up to Rs 1 crore." Shah agrees:"Today any film on a Rs 40-70 lakh budget is saleable."

So, medium budget offerings which straddle the terrain between artistic self-indulgenceand inane pulp may soon cease to be an oddity. If Gudgudi—" a pastiche ofcomic ideas and situations drawn from various sources’’— tickles the fancyof the average film goer, middle cinema may no longer be a frustrating kabhi haan kabhinaa game .