Taking on the taboos

2014 will be remembered as a year when Hindi film industry grappled with issues considered risky, and the audiences took note.

December 25, 2014 06:05 pm | Updated 07:37 pm IST

A scene from "PK".

A scene from "PK".

In “PK” there is a scene where Cherry Bajwa, a seasoned journalist chides his industrious colleague when she comes up with news on a guy who is seeking god. He says in India you should never meddle with religion. He shows her how the followers of a baba shoved a trident into his derriere when he ran a news item against the godman. PK is no Bajwa. In fact he gloriously sums up a year when the Hindi film industry successfully took on a trident, the trident of taboos: religion, Kashmir and box office’s repulsion for female protagonists.

In an industry where the K-word meant Karan Johar or Ekta Kapoor’s fascination for the letter, Vishal Bhardwaj provided a counter narrative to the popular ‘all is well’ accounts of the Kashmir Valley with “Haider”. Poetry soaked in blood, Haider’s journey reminded us that the ostrich approach will not lead to healing.

Rajkumar Hirani proved to be braver. He took on blind faith and godmen and questioned their ways to make us reach Him in an idiom that is as massy as massy can get. Not to forget Ravi Kumar’s honest take on Bhopal gas tragedy. The best part is these films survived CBFC’s scissors and the strident fringe elements and the audience lapped them up as well.

Making space

2014 was also the year when female protagonists overcame the label of heroine-oriented films with “Queen”, “Highway”, “Ragini MMS-2” “Gulab Gang”, “Bobby Jasoos”, “Mardaani”, “Mary Kom” and strong female characters in “Hasee Toh Phasee”, “Dawat-e-Ishq”, “Khoobsurat” and “Sonali Cable”. Except for “Ragini”, none of these films used women as objects of desire and dealt with issues as diverse as incest and child trafficking.

And none of them, apart from “Gulab Gang”, proved to be dud at the box office. “Mary Kom” even took an opening. Two documentaries, “Gulabi Gang” and “The World Before Her” were significant additions to the year when the film industry discovered the hero in heroine. It reflected off screen as well when the social media and the industry jumped in support of Deepika Padukone when she took on a media house for putting her unflattering images online.

Craving for content

It was also the year when films which should not work didn’t work in a big way. Mindless star vehicles started losing steam after Friday hinting at mass audience’s growing craving for content. Be it “Kick”, “Happy New Year”, “Bang Bang” or “Singham Returns” the collections started tapering from day one and by Monday there was a freefall proving the stars are bringing audience to the theatres but the directors and producers have not been able to hold them beyond Sunday.

And when lack of substance threatened to become crass, audiences pulled the plug on the tentpoles, irrespective of who was headlining it. “Humshakals”, “Entertainment”, “Happy Ending” and “Action Jackson” bit the dust after a boisterous start. A bit of fresh perspective on romantic masala and tweaking the budget can help as Abhishek Verman and Shashank Khaitan showcased in “2 States” and “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya” respectively, and Shashanka Ghosh in “Khoobsurat”.

Collaboration galore

The demand for content has ensured that corporate house and studios are no longer putting all their eggs in star-studded baskets. Fox Star backed “Citylights”, a film on urban migration, and “Hawaa Hawaai”, the story of a rural prodigy whose farmer father committed suicide. Viacom18 let “Queen” blossom and hand held “Manjunath”, who, otherwise, would not have seen the projector’s light. Family run production houses are also not shying away from joining hands with ‘outsiders’ . Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap struck a chord for “Hasee Toh Phasee”, the story of a scientist girl who is not allowed to realise her dreams in a traditional family. And Nadiadwala, surprised many when he backed “Highway” with Imtiaz Ali and “2 States” with Johar.

Not to forget Bhatts’ U-turn with “Citylights” and when between show-offs like “Gunday” and “Kill Dil”, Yash Raj gambles with “Titli” and “Dawat-e-Ishq” you realise that the churning is on. No doubt, political statements like “Children of War”, “Dekh Tamasha Dekh” and “Zed Plus” are still unceremoniously brought down but who would have thought that a whimsical film like “Finding Fanny” will open to full houses or a dark drama probing the inner recess of human psyche like “Miss Lovely” will find space in theatres.

Filmmakers who haven’t invested humungous budgets in their content and don’t have stars to flaunt realised the importance of focussed marketing and word of mouth. It worked for “Citylights” and “Filmistaan” in the first half and “Sulemani Keeda” in the second. And in the last week of the year, Anurag Kashyap put a stamp on this course correction by releasing “Ugly” with just 11 days of publicity.

Among the stars, only Aamir Khan showed the will to reinvent. Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn brazenly repeated themselves with mixed results while Saif Ali Khan baffled with his choice of films. The younger brigade bridged the distance with Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor and Siddharth Malhotra showing that they are within the striking distance to the big league. Shahid Kapur was largely satisfying as “Haider”. Nawazuddin Siddiqui continues to surprise with his range and Rajkumar Rao and Randeep Hooda impress from the sidelines. However, it was Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan who emerged as the find of the year.

Heady performance

But the year belonged to female actors with Alia Bhatt leading the way with “Highway”, “2 States” and “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya”. The spunky Bhatt girl didn’t put a foot wrong making us smile and cry at will. Her natural flair makes even Parineeti Chopra, who was not bad in “Hasee Toh Phasee”, look put on. Kangana Ranaut rediscovered her mojo in “Queen” and gave a performance that could be her calling card for a lifetime. Priyanka Chopra’s gutsy performance made us forget that she doesn’t look like Mary Kom and Deepika Padukone’s good run continued as Fanny intoxicated many. She held her own in “Happy New Year” and unlike Sonakshi Sinha, who continues to shine in the reflected glory of male co-stars, Deepika and Anushka Sharma were not overshadowed by the superstar’s presence in “PK”.

It was also the year when some of the so-called spent forces returned to show their mettle. Madhuri Dixit impressed in “Dedh Ishqiya”, Tabu was devastating with her eyes in “Haider”, Rani Mukerji packed a punch in “Mardaani” but it was Govinda who rediscovered himself with “Kill Dil” and “Happy Ending” and Naseeruddin Shah can still make the hearts melt with two stirring performances in “Dedh Ishqiya” and “Finding Fanny”. Similarly, Vijay Raaz (“Dedh Ishqiya” and Kay Kay Menon (“Haider”) demonstrated that they are not done yet.

Song and dance may be losing its prominence but still you just need a Sunny Leone swooning to “Baby Doll” to make the sequel of “Ragini MMS” coast home. Similarly “Ek Villain”, once again from Ekta Kapoor’s stable, worked largely because of its soulful songs. Along with “Heropanti”, these were some of the flukes that the audience failed to scan.

Global presence

This year India’s representation on world stage increased manifold with films like “Killa”, “Court”, “Titli”, “Liar’s Dice” and “Margarita with A Straw” excelling at prestigious film festivals.

Regional challenge

With Punjabi and Marathi film industry making significant strides, the threat from regional films multiplied. Anurag Singh’s “Punjab 1984” worked across language barrier. “Chaar Sahibzaade”, the Punjabi animation film, released with Akshay Kumar starrer “The Shaukeens” and “Rang Rasiya” was the film of the week and Marathi film “Lal Bihari” ate into the business of “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya”.

Critic’s choice:

Ten films of 2014 that you should catch up during the winter break: PK, Haider, Queen, Ugly, Highway, Miss Lovely, Filmistan, Finding Fanny, 2 States, Dedh Ishqiya

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