Shreyas Bhide
Earlier this week as I was watching Satya 2, I started wondering where did the man who made the impeccably constructed account of Mumbai’s underworld back in 1998 go. Ram Gopal Varma, or RGV as he is widely known, has had a fall so rapid, you almost wonder if he exists in a universe of accelerated gravity.
RGV burst onto the scene in the 90s with exceptionally crafted films such as Shiva and Rangeela. Even a box office failure like Daud, today has a cult following, courtesy repeated TV viewings. But somewhere down the line, I guess RGV exceeded his own expectations. Then got burdened with people’s expectations. And under tremendous pressure, lost his way.
RGV isn’t the first example of a director hitting a peak, only to run out of his creative juices later in his career. The classic-est example in this context remains Yash Chopra. The man, who once directed contemporary dramas like Waqt, Deewar, and Mashaal, stumbled with his works in the late 80s and early 90s (Parampara, Lamhe), to find a successful formula in Chandani. The director then just stuck to that formula for the next two decades churning out piece after piece of uninspired direction.
RGV burst onto the scene in the 90s with exceptionally crafted films such as Shiva and Rangeela. Even a box office failure like Daud, today has a cult following, courtesy repeated TV viewings. But somewhere down the line, I guess RGV exceeded his own expectations. Then got burdened with people’s expectations. And under tremendous pressure, lost his way.
RGV isn’t the first example of a director hitting a peak, only to run out of his creative juices later in his career. The classic-est example in this context remains Yash Chopra. The man, who once directed contemporary dramas like Waqt, Deewar, and Mashaal, stumbled with his works in the late 80s and early 90s (Parampara, Lamhe), to find a successful formula in Chandani. The director then just stuck to that formula for the next two decades churning out piece after piece of uninspired direction.
Subhash Ghai too, once revered as the new-age Showman, has not given one film post-2000 that can be spoken of in respectful tones. Yaadein, Kisna, Yuvvraj, Black & White … his filmography over the last 13 years reads like the who’s who of lame filmmaking.
What is it that makes directors go down this path? One explanation could be that Bollywood films inherently lack innovation. Some director, once in a while, brings in a fresh style of filmmaking, which is revered by critics and audiences alike. The unimportance laid on innovation means that the director begins to hammer his trademark filmmaking on the same ideas and concepts, eventually leading to a saturation of sorts. Previous successes’ cache can only help the director for about 2 bad films, after which starts the dreaded free fall.
With someone like Ashutosh Gowariker, its less about filmmaking, more about assembling a worthy team who could hit the jackpot, something that Priyadarshan mastered in the early 2000s, and Rohit Shetty is doing now. This is a model that is bound to fail, because it involves less of direction skills, more of team management and talent spotting skills. But it becomes hard to digest when talented and promising directors like Ram Gopal Varma start going turkey.
With the entry of innovative new-age filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap, Sujoy Ghosh, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Dibakar Banerjee, there is hope that this will change. These directors, along with their filmmaking styles, have brought in a trend where even established filmmakers want to break the mould and experiment (cue: Karan Johar’s segment in Bombay Talkies). This makes it possible that Bollywood will soon see a Spielberg who will make a Lincoln as engaging as a Taxi Driver was 35 years ago.
What is it that makes directors go down this path? One explanation could be that Bollywood films inherently lack innovation. Some director, once in a while, brings in a fresh style of filmmaking, which is revered by critics and audiences alike. The unimportance laid on innovation means that the director begins to hammer his trademark filmmaking on the same ideas and concepts, eventually leading to a saturation of sorts. Previous successes’ cache can only help the director for about 2 bad films, after which starts the dreaded free fall.
With someone like Ashutosh Gowariker, its less about filmmaking, more about assembling a worthy team who could hit the jackpot, something that Priyadarshan mastered in the early 2000s, and Rohit Shetty is doing now. This is a model that is bound to fail, because it involves less of direction skills, more of team management and talent spotting skills. But it becomes hard to digest when talented and promising directors like Ram Gopal Varma start going turkey.
With the entry of innovative new-age filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap, Sujoy Ghosh, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Dibakar Banerjee, there is hope that this will change. These directors, along with their filmmaking styles, have brought in a trend where even established filmmakers want to break the mould and experiment (cue: Karan Johar’s segment in Bombay Talkies). This makes it possible that Bollywood will soon see a Spielberg who will make a Lincoln as engaging as a Taxi Driver was 35 years ago.