It was a very interesting year for Bollywood: we had those done to death formulaic films right alongside path-breaking new cinema as well as genuinely women-centric movies. And as always, Bollywood, in its wisdom, gave us a bunch of gyan this year as well. And what is it that the film viewing janta taught Bollywood? Here are some of the lessons Bollywood should have, but likely will not have, learned from movies made in 2015.
Women can carry films
Bhumi Pednekar in Dum Laga Ke Haisha
Piku belonged to luminous Deepika Padukone, Tanu weds Manu Returns belonged to the brilliant Kangana Ranaut. These were two of the year’s 10 biggest grossing film. There were films such as the grim Masaan with the formidable Richa Chadha and the delightful Dum Laga Ke Haisha with comfortably large and utterly captivating Bhumi Pednekar… the list of films with pivotal female characters was interestingly long this year.
SRK is not enough
DDLJ versus Dilwale
No matter what the (doctored?) box office collections say, Dilwale, one of the most awaited films of the year received bad reviews by critics and audiences alike. Bollywood needs to realise that big names and nostalgia are not enough to carry a film not even when the name is as big as Shah Rukh Khan and the nostalgia is evocative of a film as iconic as DDLJ.
Content is king
Nawazuddin and Radhika in Manjhi
Unique stories were told, formulas were abandoned in favour of brave new themes and a lot of the film going junta liked this. Manjhi – The Mountain Man was non-glamorous and utterly original, Tamasha, Masaan, Piku, Dum Lagake Haisha, and to an extent even Baby were different than the run of mill Bollywood offering and we loved them!
Crazy but fresh is good
Prabhas in Bahubali
We even loved Salman Khan not being Salman Khan – we saw him in a rather different avatar in Bajrangi Bhaijaan and we made it this year’s biggest hit! We loved the spectacle and scale if Bahubali and the stylish look of Byomkesh Bakshi. Tamasha was an ode to the free spirit and to embracing your dreams, Shaandaar was a mad, mad film that was quite unhinged in bits. So apparently crazy is OK too!
Unconventional good looks is definitely in
Irrfan Khan
Not being conventionally good looking is fine too – though apparently there are significant portions of the movie viewing public who think Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui are hot, these men are still mainly crumpet for the thinking woman. The rest of the movie viewing janta did not reject these unconventional looking men either!
Hopefully Bollywood will gather courage from audience responses to films made this year and give us worthwhile, watchable, new cinema instead of the Dilwales, the Welcome Backs and the Singh is Bliing variety of twaddle.
Author: Reena Daruwalla
Feature Image Source: http://www.bollywoodbindass.com/wp-content/uploads/Irrfan-Khan-age-1024×597.jpg
