Kamaal kar dihel: Bhojpuri films transcending frontiers

Mumbai, July 2 (UNI) Riding on the box office successes, the Bhojpuri flavour, which has always been part of the Bollywood dictionary, is now transcending foreign territories.

Although not technically superior like Tamil, Telugu or other regional films, Bhojpuri movies, however, have their own charm with a thrust on home-grown subjects that focus largely on emotions, family ties and relationships.

Whether they are movies of yesteryears like ''Ganga Jamuna'' or in hit songs like ''Chalat musafir'', ''Nain lad jae hai'' and even ''Kajra re'', Bhojpuri words have always been part of the Bollywood lexicon.

Deepak Sawant's ''Ganga'', starring Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini which is scheduled for a September release, is bidding for a price of Rs one crore for overseas territory. Sawant is superstar Amitabh Bachchan's make-up man.

The bid by Bhojpuri films to woo foreign audience began last year with noted playback singer Udit Narayan's film ''Kab Hoii Gawna Hamaar'' being the first such film to be shot abroad.

Generations of labour class families, who migrated to countries like Mauritius, Fiji, Surinam and Holland, have preserved their roots and Indian culture, says Udit.

Talking to UNI, he said, ''Despite exploitation during the British rule, the labour class families who migrated to other countries, have zealously gaurded their Indianness.'' Udit's film was released with 13-14 prints in India, and at a few theatres in Mauritius and Holland. It will be shown in the US and Fiji as well, he informed.

The fledging Bhojpuri movie industry, which caters to a target audience of about 10 crore people has managed to survive mainly because of providing a rural flavour.

Singer-turned-actor Manoj Tiwari says the Bhojpuri film industry's boom time began in 2004 with ''Panditji Bataai Na Biyah Kab Hoyee'' and ''Sasura Bade Paisewala'' which starred Ravi Kissen and Manoj Tiwari respectively.

Tiwari says out of the 50 films released, about seven to eight movies recover their costs and one or two are hits.

Out of about 220 movies made in Hindi annually, less than 10 manage to recover the costs and become box office successes. ''This does not stop people from making Hindi films,'' he says.

''Rural people relate to the stories and emotions in the movies.

They like it when the actors speak their language and the music contains their folk songs,'' says producer Shivlal Damani.

According to him, about 50 Bhojpuri films are released every year and producers have to distribute the films themselves. About 200 films remain in the cans and do not see the light of the day for want of distributors. ''Making regional films is a gamble,'' he says.

Damani, who has been producing Bhojpuri movies since 1986, says the budget for producing these films range between Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1.25 crore. However, not all producers recover the money, he adds quickly.

''A good run is a maximum of two to three weeks in theatres,'' says Damani while recalling that in 1978-79, his ''Balam Pardesia'' had a silver jubilee run in Patna, Banaras and Gorakhpur.

Actor Ravi Kissen, who is considered a top Bhojpuri film actor, charges about Rs 20-25 lakh per film. Talking to UNI, Ravi says Bhojpuri movies are doing well in urban cities like Mumbai which has 40 lakh North Indian population, especially migrant labourers.

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