‘We pretend everything is ok’
His films Khosla Ka Ghosla and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye won National Awards. After Shanghai, director Dibakar Banerjee is now ready with a story on movies and their impact on the audience in Bombay Talkies.
Why did you make a movie on movies?
In 100 years, our films have been a mix of what India wants to be, what it pretends to be and what it is. We made a film on the impact and relation between the common man and cinema.
Films impact the common man and vice versa.
The ’70s angry young man represented the common man’s need to destroy the system. Since you cannot make a film on destruction, 70% of it was about destruction; the rest was about pretending everything was ok. In the ’90s, too, everyone was finding a common ground in the end, in the movies.
Rebellion is still a popular subject for filmmakers.
All rebellion is political; some dissent comes out of western-inspired ideas of social service.
The industry is also rebelling against dynastic rule…
The domination of film families is breaking down. Yet, advertising and corporate money is hugely in-sync with Bollywood finances. Politicians understand this. So, from morning to night, you are consuming what they are feeding. You wear a baniyan endorsed by a star; read an entertainment section of the paper that talks nothing but Bollywood and listen to a star canvassing for a political party. This has created a new feudal set up. All the three are feeding off each other. And they have taken over the popular imagination of the people of the country.