New Age Cinema in Bollywood: coming of age in 2006

New Delhi, Dec 28 (UNI) It was a year which saw the New Age Cinema in India coming of age; emerging from the cloistered precincts of the film festivals to acquire a dominant place in the 'Bollywood Mainstream'.

Dominating the psyche of the average cinegoer in India during the year 2006 were films representing sensibilities 'Different-from-the-Mainstream' like Rakyesh Mehra's 'Rang De Basanti', Rajkumar Hirani's 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', Dibakar Banerjee's 'Khosla Ka Ghosla', Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Omkara', Pritish Nandy Communications' 'Pyar Ke Side Effects', Milan Luthria's 'Taxi No 9211', Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Corporate', Nagesh Kukunoor's 'Dor', Homi Adjania's 'Being Cyrus', Anurag Basu's 'Gangster' and Kabir Khan's 'Kabul Express'.

It was perhaps the first year in recent times that so many films dealing with offbeat themes and marked by an innovative cinematic style hit the bull'e eye at the box office garnering as much attention from cinegoers as popcorn flicks like Farhan Akhtar's 'Don', Rakesh Roshan's 'Krrish' and Sanjay Ghadvi's 'Dhoom 2', besides earning tremendous critical acclaim at home as well as abroad.

For example, 'Rang De Basanti', which earned worldwide acclaim for its potent message of 'standing upto one's rights' and which was chosen by the Film Federation of India this year to represent the country to the Oscars for the Best Foreign film category, was also among the top grossers of the year.

Made on a budget of Rs 25 crore, 'Rang De Basanti', which was acclaimed at several International film festivals including a film festival in Australia, garnered Rs 125 crore, Rs 35 crore from overseas alone. Infact, it was among the top overseas grosser from Bollywood this year.

Later, UTV, the producers of the film, which was chosen to represent India from from among a list that included films like Rakesh Roshan's 'Krrish', Karan Johar's 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna', Naseeruddin Shah's 'Yun Hota To Kya Hota', 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', 'Omkara', 'Corporate', Marathi film 'Bhook' and Telugu film 'Amma Chepindi', also decided to enter it in seven other categories including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Art Direction and Best Sound Design.

Like 'Rang De Basanti', Raj Kumar Hirani's 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' also drew acclaim from a wide cross section of society for its bringing back in focus Gandhiji's gospels of truth, non-violence and satyagraha, for long confined to the history gathering dust in shelves of libraries. Infact, the film won acclaim for the socially-relevant message of the film as well as Sanjay Dutt who, as the lovable don Munnabhai espousing of the Gandhian philosophy as the solution of all problems in modern India, managed to make the Gandhian principles of truth, non-violence and satyagraha the new anthems of the nation plagued by violence and consumerism.

Lauded by no less a person than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for bringing into sharp focus the Gandhian ideology on the Indian pantheon and its depiction of the corruption rampant in indian social system, 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' was a big box office grosser too, earning over Rs 100 crore till date, Rs 25 crore from overseas alone. Infact, the film wrote box office history by becoming among the fastest money spinners along with 'Krrish' and 'Dhoom 2'. Trade sources say the continuing popularity of the film suggests that 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' could well dethrone 'Gadar' to become the biggest Bollywood hit of the decade.

Seeing the huge impact created by the film - the movie found its echo in Parliament with MPs cutting across party lines urging the Centre to give Padamshri to the makers and also became the first film to be screened at the United Nations - the producers decided to send 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' to the Oscars as an independent entry.

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