Bollywood considered a freak show?

Actor Ranvir Shorey says mainstream Indian movies considered novice on global level

DHARAMSALA: Independent films, such as Masaan, Court, Chauthi Koot and Titli, have gained recognition at global film festivals, but actor Ranvir Shorey said Indian cinema still has a long way to go to make its presence felt. He feels that mainstream Bollywood films are still considered a “freak show” at international platforms.

“With the production of such [indie] films, it’s a small step to a great journey that lies ahead of us because as self-sufficient as Bollywood is on the international platform, it is still seen as some kind of a novelty or a freak show,” Ranvir told IANS on the sidelines of the fourth Dharamsala International Film Festival (DIFF), which opened with his latest release Titli.

“When we have films that speak the international language and hold the international grammar of cinema, it affects people and communicates with them worldwide. It’s something that we desperately need as a film industry,” he added.

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Released on October 30, Titli, helmed by debutant director Kanu Behl, was earlier screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2014 Cannes International Film Festival. Ranvir, who has impressed critics with his stints in films, such as Bheja Fry, Khosla Ka Ghosla and Gour Hari Dastaan, feels the recognition has now started coming in.



“We are making some dent now in this period, but we still have a long way to go. Internationally, there was a time when Iranian and Korean cinema became a rage in world cinema … we still need to reach that point where we take the audience of world cinema strongly,” he said.

However, Ranvir rued that a film such as Titli, which was co-produced by Yash Raj Films and Dibakar Banerjee, “doesn’t get support from the big studios.” He further said, “Instead of being backed [whole-heartedly] by Yash Raj Films, our film was released and promoted as a small one, unlike other star-studded films that they produce. We were not given the same resources.”

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Titli, which delves into the concept of family violence, was edited by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) due to several swear words in it. Ranvir said this is their duty and it’s not that the CBFC wants to evade realism from Hindi cinema. “I don’t think the CBFC tries to stop realism. They have certain reservations about language, profanity and showing nudity and things like that. There should be a board of filmmakers, who don’t have any grudges and [works] without any involvement of the government,” he noted.

On whether or not he has made the conscious effort of keeping commercial films at bay, he stated, “I don’t avoid doing them. I have done quite a number of commercial films. But what I do look for in a commercial film as well as in an independent film is some kind of honesty in the voice I get. The audience has a hunger for good content.” 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2015.

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