Kitna Talent Hai Re Kaalia!
The past weeks have proved to us that the Indian people are no longer willing to take crap in the name of cinema and music. The windmills of change have spun its own magic on the mind of the nation. At passionforcinema.com, we have been blogging and commenting about this oncoming change in taste for some time now. It has happened. Drona, Love Story 2050, Kidnap, Karzzz, Roadside Romeo and some others with hackneyed plots, bad acting or bad music (some with all the three) have been shoved out of the way. Some more shall bite the dust. It shall never be the same again.
That’s good. But what next? Is the industry going to come up with better stuff? Not necessarily. There are corporations, producers and unimaginative directors who are yet to see reason. Why? Are they waiting for even worse times? Let’s say they are.
Is there any silver lining to this? Yes, there is. The Global Economic downturn is already throwing up answers. There are those who are just moping around hoping for divine intervention after they have themselves screwed up in Business Operations, Management and Strategy. There are the others who are looking at this as a wonderful opportunity to create a niche, forge better relationships with their customers, partners and stakeholders alike to conquer the new order and just be “ahead of the curve”, as Joker once said.
In the film Industry too, this shall happen. As the dust settles down, this recession proof industry shall morph. Creativity shall gain more substance. The story shall be king rather than a certain “Singh” now. The pace of thought shall quicken. Projects shall be greenlighted based on merit of the story rather than anything else. I see UTV doing it already. Indian Films, Ashtavinayak, Percept, Eros and many others shall follow suit. Creative associations shall come to the fore. “Think small, Deliver big” shall be the name of the game increasingly. So, a LemonTea Production may be able to do a project with Eros in the very near future. It may be happening already but the scale shall increase dramatically. I see creative leaders come to the fore in corporate set ups too. Not Creative pretenders but certified film makers who can deliver an idea into a plausible 1.5 hour script. Do I see some of our maker friends laughing at me! Don’t, I have seen the same churn happening in other industries. So, it is bound to happen here.
I also see a new order coming to the fore. One year ago, most of the comments in this blog used to veer around RGV, YashRaj, Dharma, SLB and other such venerable institutions of the film Industry. Today, the order is headed by UTV, Excel Entertainment, Vipul Shah, Rajat Kapoor and gang and a gaggle of small and niche production houses who are promising and delivering better products.
27 Directors who are being spoken about with intensity are:
Dibakar Banerjee (one movie is all it took to reach this exalted position and KKG never found takers for a couple of years!)
Imtiaz Ali (Jab we Met has actually unfurled a revolution in nice and simple Hindi movies with great songs, I go by the “similar in kind” products being talked about today)
Rajkumar Hirani (simple, honest and straight to the heart films. He ranks or shall rank beside Hrishida somewhere in the near future)
Rajat Kapoor (he has single handedly made us understand the mechanics of Low Budget niche films)
Sudhir Mishra (one HKA has assured him and us of the way Hindi films should go)
Anurag Kashyap (Black Friday, the stand out work that has made this man our best bet to produce world beating World Cinema from Mumbai)
Anurag Basu (Gangster arrived with little fanfare and blew us away and then Metro arrived to tell us that this AB will go a long way)
Onir (the director who made My Brother Nikhil should be up there with the celestials)
Sriram Raghavan (What can one say about Johnny Gaddar’s director, by now everyone in the industry is cozying up to him probably)
Jahnnu Barua (one of the most under rated talents in India at the moment)
Navdeep Singh (DVD sales of Manorama say it all!!!)
Nishikanth Kamath (Deserves all the accolades he is getting now)
Neeraj Pandey (For all the bluster he showed up with, A Wednesday is a success because of his plot sense and of course, Naseeruddin Shah)
Vishal Bharadwaj (the man who actually showed everybody else, talent matters and how!)
Farhan Akhtar (a sensibility that the new India identifies with and I have a feeling that everything he touches from here on shall be gold, in whatever capacity)
Reema Kagti (this lady is very intelligent and her work in Honeymoon Travels showed us a glimpse of her ticking grey matter, rubbing hands in glee for more)
Sanjay Khanduri (the man behind Ek Chalis..is going places and his wacky first film has promised us much in the future and I think he has an excellent ear for catchy music, bonus!)
Shimit Amin (I shall not speak more about a man who has made Ab Tak Chappan and Chak De..he is on the first bench of successful directors already)
Chandan Arora (Man, I am so excited about his film with Siddharth)
Manish Jha (some will doubt my selection, but I want to stick my neck out. This is the person who made Matribhoomi. Respects.)
Sagar Ballary (Bheja Fry..need I say more. Whatever he is doing in future, holds my complete interest)
Saket Chaudhury (why him, you tell me..)
Aamir Khan (how many among us are waiting with bated breath for him to announce his next directorial venture??)
Abbas Tyrewala (more power to this powerful storyteller, Jaane Tu.. is just a sign of things to come)
Homi Adajania (Being Cyrus was in English, so what??…a kick ass film and kick ass directorial talent)
Rahul Dholakia (people may have issues with the “Parzania” maker, but just to tackle such a subject, he pedals his way into this hallowed group, yeah, his too was in English!!)
Rakeysh Mehra (after all, he delivered RDB!!!!)
Now, add some of the old war horses like Aparna Sen, Govind Nihalani, Shekhar Kapoor, Shyam Benegal, Kundan Shah, Vidhu Vinod Chopra (the man should just make another simple “Khamosh”) , Ketan Mehta, Aziz Mirza, Mani Ratnam (ideally he should be in the Tamizh film list) and a few others that I forget (I know I shouldn’t!!)
I am sure by the same time next year I shall be adding more names to this list of achievers.
Hindi /Indian Cinema is alive and kicking. Hooray!
Now, Trivia Questions:
1. How many of the above mentioned directors have their films as certified hits in the DVD circuit? Why? What does it prove?
2. Why have I not mentioned Sanjay Gupta, Sajid Khan, Satish Kaushik and Shaad Ali?
3. How many of the chosen above did work with that maverick called RGV? Where does that leave him?
4. Would you add Priyadarshan here after his “Kanchipuram”?
Tags: Directors, Indian Cinema, Indraneel, talent
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Very true Indraneel…we have no dearth of talent, its in abundance. But the irony is more than talent we need finances and faith in the new talents. I am glad production houses like UTV are supporting this new breed of talents.
And yes, I am most eagerly awaiting for Rakeysh Mehra’s Delli 6. If it is based on his formative years then I am exited to see how he shows the times of Emergency and 84 riots. I know him as a director of Aks than RDB and hence expect more from him.
Nagesh Kukunoor?
some names i would like to add……
ashutosh gowariker…
rituparno ghosh
snajay leela bhansali….i know his name might raise a few eyebrows……but u can certainly classify him as enterprising and imaginative even though he is obsessed with opulence…the guy is talented…
Answer to Q3:
Following are the guys who worked with RGV:
1. Anurag Kashyap
2. Sriram Raghavan
3. Vishal Bharadwaj(as a Music Director ofcourse, but we all know how he gets into tech details apart from Music. He adores RGV. )
4. Shimit Amin
5. Chandan Arora
That surely leaves him above the list( some may not agree, ya coz of his attitude nowadays, but he knows these guys…he recognizes and encourages the right talent )
And that also leave him as the Maverick of the Mavericks…hahahaha….
Ashutosh Gowariker is extremely talented. So is Aditya Chopra… DDLJ is one of India’s most loved films. Mohabbatein wasn’t that bad either.
.
Madhur Bhandarkar too is very good at what he does… though I think there are a few cases of bad acting in his films.
.
I also like Rohit Jugraj… the director of Kunal Khemu starrer ‘Superstar’…
.
And then there’s Prakash Jha… who I think is very good at making movies on and about Bihar.
I put my bet on Anurag Basu,Shriram Raghavan,Vishal Bharadwaj,Raykesh Mehra,Rajkumar Hirani and Farhan Akhtar…These guys have shown consistency.
Last year I was completely blown away by Manorama Six Feet Under.I dont think I have ever loved a film more than Manorama..I have never waited for a film more eagerly than his next…More power to you..Navdeep.
@satya..me too waiting for Dilli 6.
@axw11..Nagesh..I dunno, I toyed with his name for a long time. Actually, I do not see him doing great stuff in the future. Of course, I would love to be proved wrong..but something has gone off kilter with him and his films
@ashwin..Rituparno has not shown enough felicity in Hindi cinema..but you never know..but he’s not on my list as of now and Ashutosh..Yes, but isn’t he already a veteran?!
@Sridhar..the ultimate maverick..lol
@Anindya..agree..agree
i read somewhere Dilli6 is based on monkey-man incidents ?has anybody got any idea what its based on …..
Nice list there Indraneel. As someone said, there’s no dearth of talent. I’d also like to add Shashanka Ghosh’ name to it. Waisa Bhi Hota Hai P-II was a marvellous film and QGM is hugely anticipated.
I saw “Summer 2007″ the other day…did not expect nething good…but was dazzled and shocked by the subject they chose…and was proud to c how convincing the movie was…it deals with the deaths of farmers in a commendable manner…
Hats OFF!…BrAVO!…Do watch this one…Do not miss it
Nice post! Was just wondering
1)RajKumar Gupta of AAMIR
2)Manish Tiwary of Dil, Dosti etc.
why not them if Sagar Bellary (though the movie was much of copy. Sorry! No Offense! I loved it!) is here? Can anyone bring some light here?
Indraneel, don’t u agree Farah Khan, Madhur Bhandarkar, Mansoor Khan, Abhishek Kapoor(Rock On), Mohit Suri (Woh Lamhe), Rohit Shetty should also be in this list??
I think Balakrishnan who made ‘Cheeni Kum’ also makes the cut..
I just feel that Onir doesn’t belong here…Bas Ek Pal was trash. And thanks a ton for not mentioning Nagesh ‘overrated’ Kukunoor here.
One name whose work I can’t wait to see again is Navdeep Singh. I think Manorama was simply outstanding!
@ Ullas
Onir made a wonderful My Brother Nikhil…….i personally feel he definitely deserves to be here……….
Ullas,
Anybody who has made films or are in anyway connected with the medium professionally or simply as an audience is welcome here (i am guessing u meant PFC when u said ‘here’).
you may like or dislike different works by different people. this is a forum with simple courtesy as decorum and nothing else. if you want to have a discussion on Onir’s movies or anyone else’s movies please do so.
But please refrain from unnecessary and childish rants against anybody
DPac
You got me wrong…by ‘here’, I meant the list of promising newcomers. That should put your doubts to rest…And I never made a comment that is personal in nature. I don’t know where is the provocation for your ‘bold’ comment.
Ashwin
Of course Onir could prove me wrong with another MBN. But it’s just that Bas Ek Pal was so slipshod it made MBN look like a fluke.
I think the junta will surely take a lot more crap at least a couple of years more. More than half the industry’s money is busy making crap based on the recent crap that worked, sadly some of the worse parts made more money that convinced them. Having said that, a good discussion and an optimistic look at the things. More power to stories, I wish there are more adaptations from the vast Indian pool of folk tales. Even our news stories make for nice movie twists. The 1.5 hr model should pull in more talent and buyers.
My favorites amongst the new (in terms of experience) lot and some makers I wish continue making films:
Dibakar Bannerjee, Rajat Kapoor(I wish he refrains from those ‘are you loyal to your wife’ talk shows though), Sudhir Ji(I mean I don’t think he will ever go out of style), Anurag Kashyap(even watching him yawn makes you think of cinema), Sriram Raghavan(saw Ek Haseena Thi one more time recently and I feel the trio(Raghavan, Pooja Ladha Surti, Muraleedharan) are our answer to any Michael Mann thriller genre film, only this has the blessing of the 70’s Bollywood. Check the commentary version of Johnny Gaddar if you can), Navdeep Singh(a dangerously well-read film maker, I will wait for whatever he does), Vishal Ji(ye to guruji hain), Chandan Arora(anyday), Abbas Tyrewala(can’t wait to see him fly again, has a great sense of songwriting too), Shaad Ali(one of my top three, love the way he adores everything on screen, it bleeds), Prawal Raman( I mean this guy managed to handle the whole of Darna Mana Hai all by himself!), Jijy Philip(love My Wife’s Murder), Raj Kumar Gupta(Aamir is reason enough), Balky(I loved to hate Cheeni Kum for its cockiness, so would love to rip what he comes with next), Vijay Krishna Acharya(Tashan), Rakyesh Mehra, Prakash Jha(Jha ji is a favorite for a bygone genre).
@Ullas,
I wasnt sure what u meant thus the words in brackets. Otherwise fair enough dude. Rock on
@Tushar..am not sure whether you have mentioned everyone in the right sense..but still we have a lot of common choices..but Vicky Acharya..man..seriously, this guy needs to make cinema not abuse it..
@Sanjeev..Abhishek Kapoor..he makes another film and we all still love him..he’s on here..the others, as I always tell..when I shall require just a few laughs I shall see their cinema..Madhur B should just stop being gimmicky..Chandni Bar was a good first..but then..
Actually Pradeep Sarkar should also be in the list but I am not sure whether he would make another film specially after the flak he received after Laaga Chunari Mein Daag.But for Parineeta he surely makes it.
@Pradeepda might not make a film so early now..and that is a good thing..coz he needs to be fresh in his mind with his subject after the Laaga fiasco..but he does not make my list at all..the older Parineeta in Bengali appealed far more
I fail to understand how Nagesh Kukunoor is overrated?
And, I don’t get this also – I don’t see Nagesh doing any great work in the future? without any reason?Some premonition that is.
“I don’t see Nagesh doing any great work in the future? without any reason?Some premonition that is”. Good point Tanul! Going only by past record Nagesh Kukunoor is ahead of some of those on the list. I respect the subjective nature of the list, but I hadn’t expected Kukunoor to come up with Iqbal, Teen Deewarein, and Dor with such restrained craft in right doses without any tendency to show off when I saw the utterly VHS friendly frugal Hyderabad Blues!!! OK, some of his fare has been inspired (but NOT frame to frame remakes at least) and he has given that Bangkok dud, but you could cut him some slack for he has been around since 1998(release year; in production since 1996) and doing different stuff!
Spot on Santosh. You said it right.
Anyone who has given a vivid range of films like Hyd Blues, Iqbal, Teen Deewarein & Dor shouldn’t be taken lightly. And when we can be gracious enough to pardon Onir for BEP, I think we should be fair enough and give Nagesh his due in spite of Bombay to Bangkok and Hyd Blues II.
Shashank Ghosh.
you have mentioned Sagar Ballary for Bheja Fry….first when i saw the movie i was very impressed….but then i saw Dinner Game…..and i was stunned……what a shameless copy…frame to frame….almost everything looks feels the same….i don’t know how many times all the actors had to see the movie… Still we consider Sagar Ballary talented….more than anything else, he is a coward who doesn’t have the courage to recognize his source
@Mainak # 27 : Already mentioned Shashanka Ghosh in comment # 10. I just can’t get over WBHH – Part II. Have watched it almost a dozen times and can still watch it any number of times.
@Tanul, Santosh, Narcissist..if I have to put in Nagesh for his borrowings repeatedly, then I shall also put in Sanjay Gupta here..that fair with you guys..I don’t have much against his movies..but here we are talking about people who are going to drive the industry forward..majorly with their talent/stories..Nagesh started borrowing very early
@Debkumar..I have not seen Dinner Game..OK..fair enough, I, personally, shall give Sagar another release and if he still is a xerox artist, then he is off this list!
@Mainak, narcissist..Shashank..yes, you guys are right..just waiting for his QGM..then he’s on..for sure!
See guys, I have also gone for consumer acceptance..either in theaters or DVDs or both!