New wave' directors make a splash in Bollywood

India's Hindi-language film industry has traditionally been a tight-knit affair, with generations of actors, producers and directors forging careers in what was effectively a family business.

But a number of 'new wave' directors are now breaking the mould, making their mark on audiences despite not having the benefit of an established 'name' behind them.

Among them is Imtiaz Ali, who was an unknown when he came to India's entertainment capital, Mumbai, from northern Bihar state to study film directing in 1995.

Others include R. Balakrishnan, a former advertising executive known as 'Balki", and Anurag Kashyap, the son of a state electricity worker.

Balki is working on his second film, 'Pa", with Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, while fellow newcomer Anurag Basu, famous for the dark 'Life... in a Metro", is directing 'Kites' starring Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Moi.

Ali's third film, 'Love Aaj Kal' (Love Today), hits screens on Friday, with expectations that it will eclipse the success of his 'Jab We Met' (When We Met), which came out two years ago.

The 38-year-old has broken through, despite the continued dominance of powerful Bollywood clans like the Bachchans, the Dutts, the Khans and the Kapoors. Yet he denies the industry is a closed shop.

'Our film industry has always been open to outsiders. You are welcome and it does not matter who you are if you have the talent,' he said.

'After all, many of the big directors of today were outsiders in the industry when they began their career.'

Directors like himself who have shunned the traditional song and dance 'masala' movie format for more experimental, lower-budget movies, are not doing anything radically different from others in previous generations, he added.

'If you look at the history of our film industry, you will find that every decade a group of new directors came and shook the industry with their new kind of films,' he said.

'In the 1970s, it was Ramesh Sippy with 'Sholay' then in the 1990s it was Aditya Chopra with 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' making a love story.'

He added: 'You can say we are following that trend. The most important point is that you need to be convincing enough. Producers need to be convinced that when they put their money in they will get it back from your film.'

Kashyap landed in Mumbai in 1993, starting his career as a scriptwriter before moving into directing, fulfilling an ambition that began when he saw the classic Italian film 'The Bicycle Thieves' as a child.

The 37-year-old's first film in 2004, 'Black Friday", was about the 1993 serial bomb attacks in Mumbai. It was one of a number at the time to shun romance, music and fantasy to tackle more contemporary issues.

His follow-up, 'No Smoking", flopped but 'Dev D", his remake of the classic Indian novel and film 'Devdas", about an obsessive lover, stormed to the top of the box office rankings earlier this year.

With Bollywood suffering the fall-out of the global economic downturn and recovering from a damaging producers' boycott of multiplex cinemas, Kashyap is optimistic that there will be a raft of more innovative movies.

'I firmly believe that this year will be the golden year of Bollywood. The new wave cinema will go mainstream and you will see the change for sure,' he said.link

Bhojpuri film industry cries for a film city

The Bhojpuri film industry produces nearly 100 movies a year, employs over 50,000 people and is worth Rs.2 billion (Rs.200 crore), but a long-standing complaint of Bhojpuri actors and filmmakers is the lack of a dedicated film city in Uttar Pradesh.

While many say former chief minister Mulayam Singh's government failed to develop a film city despite having promised to do so, film industry members says the current government headed by Bahujan Sam Party (BSP) chief Mayawati too has done little for their cause.

"Mulayam Singh Yadav's government made numerous promises, but it never materialised. The present Mayawati government helped by giving subsidy to some films, but that's it," Bhojpuri superstar Ravi Kissen told.

Bhojpuri films are doing a profitable business. Kissen said the Bhojpuri film industry is worth Rs.2 billion (Rs.200 crores) and attracts crowds in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and even Maharashtra.

"In Bihar, there are 365 theatres dedicated to Bhojpuri films. In Uttar Pradesh there is a total of 680 theatres, of which 400 are dedicated to Bhojpuri," said Ravi Kissen, who has also acted in Hindi films like "Welcome to Sajjanpur".

"They also have similar market in other parts of the country because a good number of migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are living there to make a livelihood. In Maharashtra, there are 35 theatres for Bhojpuri films and it includes both single screen and multiplexes," he said.

"The industry has over 500 professionals and over 50,000 people are employed directly or indirectly with the industry,"said the actor, who will soon be seen playing Abhishek Bachchan's brother in Mani Ratnam's "Ravan".

Manoj Tiwari, another Bhojpuri star who will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as the Samajwadi Party's candidate from Gorakhpur, too feels having a separate film industry is a must as it will go a long way in cutting costs.

"Besides a number of good locations, the cost of making films in Uttar Pradesh is definitely very low as compared to other places. So a Bhojpuri film city is not only a demand, but it is a necessity," Tiwari said.

Actress-producer Madhu Tiwari says the recent anti-migrant protests by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in Maharashtra is another factor that has fuelled the demand for a separate film city for Bhojpuri movies in Uttar Pradesh.

"We are united on the issue and will soon be pressing our demand to the state government. If a film city materialises, we will not be forced to go to Mumbai for dubbing, editing, recording and other technical work," said Madhu.

Ravi Kissen said Bhojpuri films are popular because it provides entertainment cheaper than Bollywood movies as far as ticket prices go. According to him, even English films dubbed into Bhojpuri are popular.

"Even a poor man who earns Rs.20 a day can watch Hollywood movies dubbed in Bhojpuri in the remote rural areas at a price of Rs.9. So why are we wrong in asking for a dedicated film city?" asks Kissen, who also plans to open a Bhojpuri film and drama school in his hometown Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.

"I will make the school with my own money and on my own land. My target is to complete it in the next five years and, besides providing training in acting and other technical aspects of filming, I will also give free training to poor aspirants,"Kissen said.link