Filmmaker Anand Gandhi’s Ship Of Theseus, which released last week, hasn’t just got good reviews but has also done an average business — something, which was really unlikely for an independent cinema till sometime back. Some critics even believe that the film, which has done really well at many international film festivals, can be this year’s entry from India to the Oscars.
However, this is not the only indie-film that has got appreciation at international fests, there’s a long list of films that have got enough international acclaim but still have not been released in India. They are struggling to see the light of the day. Not that these films don’t have good stories — it’s just that people associated with the business of films are sometimes scared because of the bold and blunt way of storytelling that the indie-filmmakers pick-up, and sometimes they are scared of bad business as usually these films, made on a shoe-string budget, don’t have big stars.
Nila Madhab Panda, one of the front–runners in the fight for independent cinema, says that this is the situation of independent cinema all over the world. “And if one cinema does well, or garners attention, we start pinning hopes that it would make the situation better. But that hardly happens, as very few people want to support independent filmmakers,” says Panda, who thinks that the dominance of studios in the Indian film industry has made the situation worse. “Most of the studios usually look at the business aspect. They ignore the fact that independent and intelligent cinema has the power to change the face of Indian films. Plus, there’s no support system from the theatres too. Support should not just come from the government bodies but also the private groups earning huge revenue from films,” says Panda.
His thoughts are reverberated by Mangesh Hadwale, whose Dekh Indian Circus hasn’t released in theatres. “The distributors come, watch the film, enjoy it as well, but then say that it’s not a ‘commercial cinema’. I fail to understand the definition of commercial cinema. If all the films that were released in the theatres were commercial, then there shouldn’t be a concept of flop films,” remarks Hadwale, who thinks that every film should at least be given a chance to be seen by the masses and let them decide what is commercial and what is not.
Vasan Bala’s Peddlers that received rave reviews at Cannes Film Festival in 2012, has still not been released in India. The release is being planned and Bala hopes that a good plan is worked out and not just a mandatory release is made. He says that the problem today is that anyone can make a film but not everyone can release their films. “That’s the learning. The struggle in the industry is the economics not the expression. And it’s economics that I and many of the filmmakers don’t understand. What Kiran Rao has done for Anand Gandhi is phenomenal. An indie-film becoming an event is unheard of. Which means hope for many of us,” he says, talking about Rao’s initiative to promote the film.
However, Ritesh Batra, who entered the industry with his acclaimed Lunchbox and has seen the nitty-gritty of the industry in the last few months, thinks that the situation is changing for good. UTV and Karan Johar have just lend a supporting hand to his film’s release in India.
“It’s a gradual process and it will take time. But the association of known people to these films can change the situation,” says Ritesh, who thinks that once few indie-films do well on the big screen, it will automatically make room for more such movies. “It’s just a matter of time. People, not just from the film industry but also the audience, have started realising the potential of independent cinema,” he says.