This story is from November 28, 2016

Delhi filmwalas at Times LitFest Delhi say depiction of Delhi in films more real now

Delhiites who work in the Hindi film industry discuss Delhi in cinema, and Delhi and cinema, at the Times LitFest Delhi
Delhi filmwalas at Times LitFest Delhi say depiction of Delhi in films more real now
Anshul Chaturvedi with Vani Tripathi Tikoo, Bobby Bedi and Atul Tiwari (BCCL)
'Queen', 'Vicky Donor', 'Pink' ' these are part of at least a dozen multi-crore grossers based in Delhi that have released over roughly the past decade. The success of these films draws attention to the fact that over the years, Delhi's presence in the stories of films has grown. Bollywood does not just show us good-over-evil dramas set in 'la la land' or in Mumbai, for too long the 'city of dreams' in Indian cinema.
Its stories are more real, and Delhi has been an intrinsic part and the setting of many of the most endearing ones. Delhi in ' and Delhi and ' Bollywood films was discussed at the Times LitFest Delhi in a session moderated by Delhi Times editor Anshul Chaturvedi, which had CBFC member Vani Tripathi (actress in TV, theatre and films like 'Chalte Chalte' and 'Dushman'), producer Bobby Bedi (films like 'Bandit Queen', 'Fire', 'Saathiya', 'Maqbool, 'Mangal Pandey' and the Jackie Chan-starrer 'The Myth') and screenwriter Atul Tiwari (projects including 'Droh Kaal', 'Mission Kashmir', 'Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero' and 'Vishwaroopam') as speakers.
The session moderator made the point that earlier, urban stories were often based around Mumbai, but for the past roughly half a decade, after 'Rang De Basanti' (RDB), we've been seeing more of Delhi on screen. Candlelight marches and youth protest activities shifted to a new location, India Gate, completely driven by cinematic change. We began to see Red Fort, Qutub Minar and other very obviously Delhi locations. While Mumbai was seen as a single city in films, Delhi began to be sliced easily into specific distinctive areas, like 'Fukrey', which may not have made huge money but showed East Delhi in great detail. With about a dozen movies in the past five years which are Delhi-centric, the questions that come to mind are: why did it take this long, why did the narrative shift to the North, especially to this part, and the pace and the volume of films. Stories of films are set here, but few films are actually made in Delhi.
Vani said that one of the reasons for Delhi's popularity among filmmakers is the change in narrative. She said, 'I think the narrative is getting increasingly real for cinema. Filmmakers have understood that today's audience will not like a fairy tale or a fantasy. If they want to connect with the audience, their stories should be about our lives. For example, 'Piku' describes all our grandparents who have those problems that we find humorous. 'Pink' is a shocking film. I was in Goa with the director of 'Pink' and he is a feminist of the highest order. To find those kinds of men, who are telling these stories, is fantastic. These are real times, these times should be celebrated. I love my city but it baffles me to see we are still so regressive. Two films that broke the notion that women-oriented films can't make big money at the box office are 'Pink' and 'Queen'. Both these films connect to Delhi.'
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Bobby pointed out that most talent for films today comes from Delhi. 'The reason our films are not being produced here is that when the industry moved from Lahore, Bombay was the centre, so the resources all gathered there and then they disseminated from there. Bollywood, or the so-called mainstream cinema, is actually 'la la land' where everything is about fantasy. Delhi emerged as a centre for real stories. Films like '
Khosla Ka Ghosla' and 'Do Dooni Chaar' have originated from Delhi,' he said.
Atul added, 'There was a time when Delhi was still coming up and Mumbai was the land of 'Dhanraj Seths' and was the power centre, but as Delhi grew, there has been a shift. Delhi probably has more Dhanraj Seths than Mumbai now. Also, 20 years ago, in how many films would we hear a song with 'shava shava'? But now, no matter where the film is based, it is important to have one Punjabi song because the rise of Punjabi culture is widely accepted across India. This Punjabiyat also came through producers who once shifted from Lahore and then established themselves in the film industry, whether it is the Chopras or the Johars.'
The other point raised was the promotion of certain films in campuses in Delhi. Prakash Jha has often taken his film's teams to DU for promotion. Dibakar Banerjee has been to JNU for 'Shanghai'. Sometimes, parallels can be drawn as to which college is in sync with which filmmaker's sensibility ' Hansal Mehta and Manoj Bajpayee at JNU had a crowd of a few hundred talking about civil rights and equality. Delhi has emerged as a standalone model where filmmaking is taken down to colleges for discussions and debates. It is not just Hansal making a statement in JNU, saying we need to have a more liberal regime ' Anupam Kher wants to screen 'Buddha In A Traffic Jam' in JNU, giving a semi-political spin to those activities. This is not happening in any other city, not even in the city where the film is being made.
The session ended with the three speakers naming their favourite movie based in Delhi ' 'New Delhi Times' (for Atul), 'Queen' (for Bobby) and 'Pink' (for Vani).

Pink: Official trailer


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