Year-end party for smaller films
Bollywood closes the year with contentrich films as opposed to bigbudget ones
In Bollywood, some Fridays are more equal than others; these are the dates most wanted by producers. The Fridays in November and December are in the mostwanted category, and are usually snatched up by bigticket films starring A-listers. However, 2017 has bucked the trend, as star power has given way to smaller and mid-sized ventures such as Ribbon, Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, Kadvi Hawa, Tumhari Sulu, Qarib Qarib Singlle, Monsoon Shootout and Fukrey Returns, among others. Some of these films are either out or will be soon, and some have already been to festivals.
Director Amit Kumar, whose film Monsoon Shootout was screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, feels that indie film-makers have brought about this change in a big way. “Now that our audiences have tasted blood and realised what they’ve been missing out on, the hunger for such movies has increased exponentially” he says.
Many years in the past decade have witnessed at least one Aamir Khan film releasing during the November-December season, but this year, Aamir is absent from the calendar. Instead, it is Salman Khan’s action thriller, Tiger Zinda Hai, that’s the big Christmas weekend release. Also, with Padmavati getting delayed because of a controversy over historical facts, smaller films have got their share of the limelight.
Film critic Omar Qureshi points out, “The way some of the big ones laid eggs at the box office, Bollywood probably missed a beat. Dates and blocks are all very well when the movies have matter to trumpet. That’s why some of our intelligent makers have taken [a] pause. Hence, there are no real big guns firing at the turnstiles this November. December still has Salman’s Tiger Zinda Hai.”
Even actors welcome this shift in audience sensibilities. Richa Chadha says, “The movie business is unpredictable. This year has been a testimony to that. Interesting films have managed to hold their own at the box office, which is why so many smaller films are now releasing in the second half.” When it comes to getting a release date at the box office, producer Guneet Monga asserts that content, and not the budget of a film, should be the deciding factor. “Films, regardless of their budget, should be able to release [on dates] they deem est fit [for] the ntent. We are eaking away om norms in more ays than one — be bigger actors acking contentiven cinema or dependent ms finding a ubstantial audience India,” she states.