Of women, politics & wrestlers

Wrestle mania on screen, big stars vying for viewers’ attention and money, big flops and political interference marked the past year for the Hindi film industry.

Though ‘usual suspects’ sailed through safely, no star was seen as ruling the hearts and wallets of spectators this time. This pops a question: is Hindi filmdom struggling to find new hero, new stories and ‘new formula’?

At the end of last year Aamir Khan’s much awaited and publicised film ‘Dangal’ hit the screens all over the country with fairly good reviews.

As expected, it created another record at the box office by collecting a huge amount in the initial two-three days. It is about women or ‘girl’ wrestlers, and said to be based on the life of a wrestler-coach from Haryana.

The State government has declared tax exemption for the film as –it feels the film supports its ‘Save the Girl Child’ campaign. Whether this is true or not, only people will decide.

A few months earlier ‘Sultan’, starring Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma, was released and was declared a ‘hit’ almost immediately, went to be the ‘blockbuster’ collecting more than Rs 300 crores.

Interestingly, this film too has ‘wrestling’ as the central theme with a girl wrestler thrown in. Sakshi Mallik’s medal winning performance at the Rio Olympics seems to have given a boost to these films.

Another Khan described as ‘King’ not very long ago; had a mixed year. Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Fan’ flopped miserably but ‘Dear Zindagi’ breathed life into his now flagging career. Was it his charisma or was it presence of the latest sensation Alia Bhatt who helped the film, is uncertain yet.

Akshay Kumar has continued his stint of success last year too. ‘Airlift’ and ‘Rustom’ having him in the lead role were adjudged as ‘super hits’ by industry experts. ‘Pink’, a thriller-cum- courtroom drama with Amitabh Bachchan proved to be an unexpected success.

‘Aligarh’ with Manoj Bajpayee (or Bajpai) as the protagonist received critical acclaim but failed to recover its production cost. Same sex love as the central theme did not go well with the Indian audience it seems.
Controversy helped a below average film ‘Udta Punjab’ to do well.

The Censor Board took objection to certain scenes, dialogues and depictions in this film. Suddenly the question of ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘artistic liberty’ became the focal point of media. It raised curiosity and in urban areas the film managed to earn decent returns.

Self proclaimed actor-singer Farhan Akhtar faced two upsets last year. His ‘Wazir’ with Amitabh Bachchan and ‘Rock On 2’ flopped. Similarly Sunny Deol’s desperate attempt to revive his career with ‘Ghayal 2’ also dashed.

Two biopics on cricketers were released last year. ‘Azhar’ based on the life of former Indian Cricket Captain Azharuddin and ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’ based on the life of India’s former One Day Team’s captain’s life.

Azhar failed on the box office but MS did manage to collect a very good amount. ‘Neeraja’, again a film based on true characters and events proved to be the surprise hit. Sonam was on the verge of being forgotten, but this film gave her a new lease of life.

Hrithik Roshan and Ashutosh Gowarikar had given modestly successful ‘Jodha Akbar’ in the past but failed to repeat the achievement. Their ‘Mohenjo Daro’ proved to be the biggest flop of the year.

On the other hand, Ranbir Kapoor, who had a bad year 2015, got some reprieve with ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, which is termed as a super hit. But the film was in the limelight for another and definitely the wrong reason – extra constitutional ‘censorship’. There is a background of international and internal politics to this problem.

Attacks by militants on Army bases in Pathankot and Uri had an echo in an unlikely area, Hindi films. Some films had Pakistani actors and/or actresses. They did not condemn these attacks. So it took a political turn.

Parties such as the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) condemned the producers and directors who cast Pakistani actors in their films. In a row over allowing Pakistani artists to perform in India, actor Salman Khan backed Pakistani artists so MNS chief Raj Thackeray warned him of his films getting boycotted too.

Soon after, Ranbir Kapoor starrer ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ produced and directed by Karan Johar, attracted Raj’s wrath as it has Pakistani actor Fawad Khan. Raj again threatened to block the release of the film. None other than Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis had to mediate.

After a meeting at the CM’s residence Karan and Raj agreed to resolve the issue ‘amicably’. Raj asked Karan to ‘donate’ Rs 5 crore to the Army Welfare Fund out of the collection of the film.

Many people, from the film industry as well as the Army, criticised the move as an act of extortion. It raised pertinent questions: How could a political party bully an independent producer?

If a film is passed by a legitimate body of film certification why does it need ‘clearance’ from a political outfit? Why was the government a mute spectator?

All these questions remained unanswered, at the end it is success of the film which matters in this industry. Deepika and Priyanka were in the news for their Hollywood outings. Ranveer Singh had a hit in 2015 –Bajirao Mastani – but last year was a forgettable one for him.

Overall this was an average year for Hindi film industry. Offbeat films such as ‘Waiting’, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin, failed to attract even the educated audience in cities.

Filmmakers are now struggling to find a ‘formula’, which will ensure commercial success. Spectators are either getting choosy (with ticket rates soaring) or films are really bad.

By: Nikhil Gajendragadkar