Indie Rocks

Miss Lovely is yet another milestone in the journey of independent filmmakers in Indian cinema.

WrittenBy:Visvak Sen
Date:
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The “democratisation of cinema” is a catchphrase that has been bandied about to the point of overuse ever since the first consumer camera hit the markets. The fact that anyone with a camera and a computer can make a film and distribute it via the internet is the kind of dangerous disruption that independent filmmakers have been talking about for years. Doubly so, when you consider that an average cell phone these days can fill all of those roles. Of late though, the catchphrase has started to grow teeth. India in particular, with it young population and large, educated middle class, is at the vanguard of this change.

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A film called Miss Lovely will release in 400 screens across India today. An exploration of the C-grade sex-horror film industry in Bombay during the 80s, it has been described by Anurag Kashyap as “the most uncompromising film to have come from India in decades”. Miss Lovely was originally intended to be a documentary that was unsurprisingly shelved because no wanted to talk about Hindi sleaze cinema on camera. What is surprising is that the feature film which eventually emerged from that idea actually found funding and cleared the censor board without being stripped bare. This is the “dirty picture” that Bollywood didn’t dare show you, brought to you by a truly independent film-maker.

“When I realised that I need to make films, I also realised at the same time that no one is going to produce my films. No one can understand, first of all, what I am trying to say, because I hardly understand what I’m trying to say. It’s a process of experimentation”, says Q, a Bengali film-maker whose latest film, Tasher Desh has been described as Rabindra Sangeet on Acid.

Q’s films are not the typical fare you would expect to find in a local cinema house. They don’t even fit into the so-called “multiplex” or “offbeat” category. This sort of wildly experimental fare has no recognised funding, production or distribution process. And yet this sort of cinema is proving increasingly attractive to a large number of Indian film-makers.

The Other Way, a 92-minute documentary made by Aniket Dasgupta and Swathy Sethumadhavan, seeks to document this pivotal moment in the evolution of Indian cinema through the eyes of a few of the pioneers of the movement.

Made by a skeletal crew with minimal equipment, The Other Way is as indie as the subject matter it tackles. The budget, initially drawn entirely from Aniket and Swathy’s savings, eventually became ₹1 lakh thanks to generous virtual benefactors who contributed through a crowd-funding campaign. Far from the slick, over-produced, kitchen-sink approach which dominates mainstream documentaries, the film has a raw, rough-round-the-edges feel to it that lends it the credibility required to tell the story of struggling artists.

The Other Way does an excellent job of posing important questions to its subjects and getting out of the way. “Questions related to a nascent independent film environment”, as Q refers to them.

Srinivas Sunderrajan – bassist of the hugely popular metal band Scribe, Kenny Basumatary – maker of last year’s breakout Indie hit Local Kung Fu, Sudhish Kamath – The Hindu’s film reviewer-turned-filmmaker, and Amlan Datta – whose film Bom has championed the cause of the people of the narcotic-infested Malana valley- each present a unique take on the indie scene, influenced by their personal journeys.

Tales of borrowed equipment, ignored permits and DIY bravado abound as each of them add their 2-paise worth to the collective narrative of pissing into the wind and hoping very hard. Kamath sums up the dismal bottom-line that independent film-makers must eventually confront. “There is no future. It is a very bleak scenario. You’re never going to recover your money. The chances of you making it are a 1 in a 100. People are not going to watch your film because they don’t care. They’re happy with mainstream. So then, the only reason you’re doing it is because you want to make films.” But as the other Kamath featured in the film, Arvind – director of 2012’s Innuendo says, it’s not all doom and gloom. “They say only Shah Rukh Khan and sex sells. Nowadays, I think even Anurag Kashyap sells.”

The revolution is afoot. Although it has been fairly discreet so far, the telltale signs are lurking just around the corner for anyone who cares to take a peek. While Dhoom 3 and its ilk fight over who will make a mockery of the box office records this week, the groundwork is being laid for a radical change in the Indian film landscape. Audiences piling into movie theatres this week will be confronted by Miss Lovely alongside the usual fare. Not everyone will choose to see it of course, but at least the choice finally exists.

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