Hirani says new age dawning for Indian films
RAJKUMAR HIRANI
BELIEVES a new golden age is dawning for the Indian movie industry as filmmakers look outside the box to tell more varied stories.
“Before there was a belief that you had to have songs,” said Hirani, the man behind a string of Bollywood hits including the global sensation 3 Idiots.
“Now people are completely experimenting with the subject matter.”
Even those directors who continue to include songs are also exploring “much darker themes” — and still enjoying massive box office success, he said.
A case in point is 55-year-old Hirani’s latest offering, Sanju, which the director has brought to this year’s 23rd Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, the largest of its kind in Asia.
Sanju is based on the reallife story of the rise and fall of Sanjay Dutt, who was born into Bollywood royalty but was jailed after being accused of involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks of 1993.
The director admits the project was a risk given the often grim nature of the story, which includes gritty scenes of drug taking and its lead character’s descent into depression.
But the strong box office returns have convinced him that audiences want a wider range of options from Hindi language films.
Sanju has so far grossed $80 million, placing it third on Bollywood’s all-time global earners’ list, according to The Times of
India newspaper.
“It’s very much a human interest story about battling your demons,” said Hirani. “It’s a very different kind of film than I have done before.
“While I was making it everybody thought it was a mistake.”