Big banners are brand names
ZIYA US SALAM
|
Nothing new to Bollywood, camp culture seems to suit everyone fine these days.
|
TYPICALLY YASH: Ta Ra Rum Pum.
This Friday, no Hindi filmmaker is likely to release his film. Because, Yash Raj Films' `Ta Ra Rum Pum' is opening today. And when a Yash Raj film hits the market, not many guys venture out.
Says Kabir Khan, who directed `Kabul Express' for the same group, "Any film of theirs is a high-profile one. `Kabul Express' was supposed to be small because it went against the grain of mainstream cinema. It had no songs or dances. Once Yash Raj Films took it on, the film became bigger and bigger in profile... They have a great success record. They are [a] brand name, nobody wants to clash with them."
Sole release
Indeed, Khan's John Abraham-Arshad Warsi starrer was the sole release when it hit the theatres in December last year. It is going to be the same with Siddharth Anand's `Ta Ra Rum Pum,' starring Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji.
Incidentally, Saif and Rani are regulars with the Yash Raj camp, having earlier given a hit with the house's `Hum Tum.' Rani, has acted in `Saathiya,' `Veer-Zaara,' `Bunty Aur Babli' and is lined up for `Laaga Chunari Mein Daag.' Kabir Khan has a five-year contract with the group.
Names to reckon with — filmmakers Yash Chopra
Directed by Siddharth Anand (who had given us `Salaam Namaste' with the group), `Ta Ra Rum Pum' has created the usual buzz, which precedes the arrival of a Yash Chopra film. The title track is a hit and advance bookings have opened well.
Admits Anand, "It is better that the film is raising a lot of expectations... It helps to a certain extent to get the initial, though later it is the film that works."
Anand should know. After all, like Shaad Ali who worked with Yash Raj Films for `Saathiya' and `Bunty Aur Babli,' he too has managed to score at the box office with the same group.
The duo is very much like Bollywood's young up-and-coming directors, including Anurag Basu, Kabir Khan, Mohit Suri and the not-so-young Pradip Sarkar and Shimit Amin, or Chakravarthy and Praval Raman. Each of them started off under the aegis of a big banner. A banner that had a Yash Chopra, a Mahesh Bhatt or a Ramgopal Varma to oversee the proceedings. The directors do their bit, they structure the movies and the soul comes from the best-known banner. While the Chopra films span full three hours, those of Bhatt and Varma are just under two hours. The actors are repeated in almost every film: Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta are regulars with Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions, Emraan Hashmi, Shiney Ahuja, Kangana Ranaut, Udita Goswami with Vishesh Films and the likes of Nisha Kothari and Mohit Ahlawat with RGV/K. Sera Sera. Amitabh Bachchan is the only floater, having worked with Varma as well as Chopra.
Besides the stars, there are directors too associated with each group. If Shaad, Siddhartha and Kabir are with Yash Raj Films, Basu and Suri are regulars with Vishesh Films. And K. Sera Sera and Ramgopal Varma have given the reins to the likes of Chakravarthy, Rohit Jugraj and Praval Raman.
The young guns look at it positively. Says Anand, "I take it as an advantage that I am working for Yash Raj Films. They have a certain brand value, there is brand loyalty with the audiences. They pay a lot of attention to detail, finishing and marketing a product. I don't think the banner impedes my thought process because films are not made on one's whims. They are made keeping the audience in mind. And Yash Raj Films has been doing it for years."
But would he not have made `Ta Ra Rum Pum" differently had it not been a Yash Raj film? "Not at all," says Anand, adding, "Every film is different from the other. The same guys had given `Dhoom' and `Kabul Express' There is no fixed genre. The only genre is of quality."
Kabir Khan agrees. "I had spent 11 months looking for producers... I read out the script to Aditya Chopra. He liked it and we went ahead." Basu, who is awaiting the release of `Metro,' his first non-Vishesh film, admits to being a shade nervous ahead of the release. Though UTV is associated with the film, Basu realises it is not easy without Bhatt and is again working with him on his next two films. "It is very difficult to step beyond the shadow of Mahesh Bhatt. `Murder' was my baby. When the film became a hit people thought it was his baby. I was quite disturbed."
Mahesh Bhatt
Things changed when `Gangster' too worked at the box office. "Everybody called it a Basu film. But Bhatt Sahab told me, `You will have to give at least three hits before people take you seriously."
Suri has experienced more or less the same. When his `Woh Lamhe' was released last year, Bhatt said, "He is doing the kind of cinema I did during the days of `Arth' and `Saaransh'."
Says Suri, "Not just me but every director from the camp experiences that. It is the same with Anurag Basu and even Pooja Bhatt. When `Woh Lamhe' came up, I knew what I was getting into."
Ramgopal Varma.
Bhatt hits the nail on the head. "The core idea of a `Murder', a `Gangster', `Kalyug', etc., originated from me. There is a score written, there is a conductor for it. The conductor, as in a new director, gives it the resonance of the 21st Century. Somewhere the original score is sourced from a mind that has a body of work, a proven veteran.
"The young directors have to find their voices... I respect the youngsters for their ability to interpret everything their own way. The parameters are given by me in Vishesh Films. And yes, there is a camp culture in Bollywood. Absolutely. But it is not such a great thing for the youngsters because it is difficult to outgrow the personalities under whom they have worked... " Then why do the young and happening directors stick around? Basu and Anand have it. "I love working for Vishesh Films. There is a quiet chemistry, there is compatibility, there is a certain freedom to enjoy," says Basu. "... Without the banner, `Ta Ra Rum Pum' would not have been possible," says the latter.
Meanwhile, the banners fly high. Like they did in the 1940s, '50s and '60s with the likes of Imperial, Filmistan and Prithvi. Only the names have changed, the tune remains the same.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
