SPECIAL ISSUE

Yeh hai Bollywood meri jaan

Hindi film has not found wide acceptance in the west. However, the much-despised term ‘Bollywood' is now widely known and people are interested in seeing a Hindi film but don't know where to start. Western critics are unsure how to engage with them but don't dismiss them and would like to know more.

Shishir Somani

Hindi film Industry is all about hits and flops. India Tribune while celebrating its 31st Anniversary is presenting a glimpse of these glorious 31 years of Hindi Film Industry. It is difficult to talk about each and every achievement of Hindi Film Industry during this span with a limitation of words and the space but i tried best from my side.

Hindi film has seen major changes in the late seventies. The era gave rise to multi star cinema with big budgets, comedy, family entertainer and above all a mix of all this hitting box office at the same time. On one hand Basu Chatterjee's Swami starring Girish Karnad and Shabana Azmi got wide range of audience, whereas Manmohan Desai's Parvarish starring Shammi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Neetu Singh, Shabana Azmi got good support from viewers. This part of seventies also changed a falsehood that only super stars can hit a movie. Basu Chatterjee's Khatta Meetha starring Ashok Kumar, Bindiya, Deven Verma, Iftekhar, Rakesh Roshan was one such example.

A family entertainer in the year 1977 Lekh Tandon's directed and Tarachand Badjatya's Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye starring Iftekhar, Madan Puri, Prem Kishen, Rameshwari, Shyamlee, Sunder proved to be a hit which almost established that Barjatyas are there to stay here for long.

Manmohan Desai's film Dharam Veer starring Dharmendra, Zeenat, Jeetendra, Nitu Singh, Pran, Jeevan, Sujit Kumar, Indrani Mukerjee and Amar Akbar Anthony starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jeevan, Neetu Singh, Parveen Babi, Pran, Rishi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Vinod Khanna were two different movies that were multi star.

The popular Hindi hits of the decade include Kamal Amrohi’s Pakeeza, Rajkapoor's Bobby, Devar's Haathi Mere Saathi, Ramesh Sippy's Sholay, Zanjeer, Deewar, Khoon Pasina, Yaadon Ki Baarat, Kabhi Kabhi, Dharamveer, Amar Akbar Anthony, Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, and Muqaddar ka Sikandar. Of this majority of the films was action oriented with revenge as the dominating theme.

The Hindi avante garde or new wave seems to have reached its bloom period towards the end of the seventies with the coming of film makers like Govind Nihalani (Aakrosh) Saeed Mirza (Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai), Aravind Desai (Ajeeb Daastan), Rabindra Dharmaraj (Chakra), Sai Paranjpe (Sparsh) Muzafar Ali (Gaman) and Biplab Roy Chowdhari (Shodh). The movement spread to the other regional cinemas such as Marathi, Gujarathi, Assamese, Oriya and Telugu. Directors like Jabbar Patel (Samna, Simhasan), Ramdas Phuttane (Sarvasakshi), Ketan Mehta (Bhavni Bhavai). Babendranath Saikia(Sandhya Rag), Jahanu Barua (Aparoopa, Papori), Manmohan Mohapatra (Klanta Aparanha, Majhi Pahacha), Nirad Mohapatra (Maya Miriga) and Gautam Ghose (Ma Bhoomi) came to the scene with their films.

The new cinema movement continued with full spirit in the next decade (eighties) also. Shyam Benegal presented some good movies like Manthan, Bhumika, Nishant, Janoon, and Trikal. Nihlani's Aaghat and Tamas were remarkable works. Other important films with new style of treatment include Damul (Prakash Jha), 36-Chowringhee Lane (Aparna Sen), New Delhi Times (Ramesh Sharma), Mirch Masala (Ketan Mehta), Rao Saheb (Vijaya Mehta), Debshishu (Utpalendu Chakraborthy), Massey Saheb (Pradeep Kishna), Trishagni (Nabayendu Ghosh), Ijaazat (Gulzar) and Umrao Jaan (Muzafar Ali).

The late eighties and early nineties saw the revival of the musical love stories in Hindi cinema. Mr. India, Tezaab, Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, Maine Pyar Kiya, Chandni, Tridev, Hum, Ghayal, Saudagar, Rakhwala, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Hum Hain Rahi Pyarke, Baazigar, Aaina, Yeh Dillagi, Hum Apake Hai Kaun, Krantiveer, Raja and Rangeela were some of the popular Hindi films of the last decade.

The first half of nineties witnessed the release of some better films in Hindi as well as in other regional languages. Drishti and Drohkal (Nihalani), Lekin (Gulzar), Disha (Sai Paranjpe), Prahar (Nana Patekar), Parinda (Vinod Chopra), Diskha (Arun Kaul), Kasba (Kumar Shahani), Rudaali (Kalpana Lajmi), Maya Memsaab (Ketan Mehta), Mujhse Dosti Karoge (Gopi Desai), Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda & Mammo (Benegal), Who Chokri (Subhankar Ghosh) & Ek Doctor Ki Maut (Tapan Sinha), were some of the notable Hindi films from Bengal, Orissa, Assam and Manipur came films like Tahader Katha, Bagh Bahadur, Charachar (Buddhadeb Dasgupta), Uttoran (Sandip Ray), Wheel Chair (Tapan Sinha), Unishe April (Rituparno Ghosh), Adi Mimansa, Lalvanya Preethi (A.K. Bir), Nirbachana (Biplab Roy Chowdhari), Halodhia Choraya Baodhan Khai, Firingoti (Jahau Barua), Haladhar (Sanjeev Hazarika), and Ishanou (Aribam Shayam Sharma) were also produced during this period.

All in all, it has been a long story of nearly nine decades, with the early shaky screen images turning into a multi pronged and multi winged empire of its own, that has yielded about 27,000 feature films and thousands of documented short films. Cinema has raised India's flag high in the world as the consistently largest film producer. But when it comes to quality the flag has to fly half mast.

In next ten years almost anything could happen, if the last ten years are a model. Predictions can not be made but there are hopes. The big banners such as Yash Raj Films and Mukta Arts will continue to develop the work of young directors and let them push the limits of any house style. Writers such as Anurag Kashyap and Abbas Tyrewala will develop their style and live up to their promise.

Following A.R. Rehman's overwhelming impact on film music, I hope we will see more music directors of the standard of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Everyone says there are no good stories but, as India has produced some of the world's greatest stories, perhaps people need to listen more. I hope Hindi cinema keeps its own style, however much it changes — even if the films are in English — rather than becoming some strange cousin of Hollywood.