Uncritical optimism about everything Indian isn’t sensible. Like every nation in the world, India has its share of problems and concerns, both big and small, whose solutions haven’t been unearthed as yet. However, here is some news that deserves to be told. Indian cinema is getting better by the day, with quality films from different states making their presence felt. More and more filmmakers in regional languages are looking around the stereotype; novel thematic explorations are being encouraged by both the viewer and the producer; at least one dialect has joined the group of languages and dialects in which films are being made; and even the Hindi film industry is breaking the shackles of conventional, market-friendly predictability far more often.
The 59th National Film Awards announced in March had a lot to say about this process of cinematic transformation. The list of awardees gave rise to some convincing conclusions. Actress Vidya Balan, who belongs to the mainstream Hindi film industry, walked away with the award for the Best Actress for her riveting performance in The Dirty Picture. While the film’s title sounds clichéd, the content certainly isn’t. It is the story of an item girl who markets her voluptuousness through her song-and-dance sequences in films. The plot charts the meteoric rise of its protagonist: and her tragic downfall. In the film, Balan is simply outstanding, while its making shows the Hindi film industry’s keenness on venturing beyond the obvious.
Balan’s was the most talked about triumph. A contrasting win was that of Girish Kulkarni, who left his fulltime job of a mechanical engineer to become an actor and writer. Kulkarni won not one but two awards: that of the Best Actor and also for the Best Dialogues for the Marathi filmDeool directed by the highly promising filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni. While Balan’s triumph turned into headlines nationwide, Girish Kulkarni’s victory was a practically silent affair. However, the unassuming writer-actor didn’t have any complaints. In fact, he insisted that a comparison between him and Balan was uncalled for, the latter’s visibility across the country making her a natural first choice for the media.
The 59th National Film Awards’ main claim to uniqueness lay in an award to Byari, the first film made in Beary Bashe, a dialect chiefly spoken by those belonging to the Muslim community in the Udipi and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka and some Hindus in the Kasargod district of Kerala. Made by Suveeran, Byari shared the award for the Best Feature Film with Deool, the latter’s success proving, once again, that modern-day Marathi cinema is progressing at a rate that is nothing short of phenomenal.
The selection of Byari will encourage many more intrepid filmmakers to make what they want: even if that means coming up with a film in a dialect which hasn’t been used for cinematic expression ever.
Salman Khan, the megastar from Hindi films, has been making the box-office rock in recent times. Not everyone might have noticed that Khan had a minor presence in the list of winners, the actor having co-produced Chillar Party with Ronnie Screwvala which picked up the award for the Best Children’s Film. Meanwhile, two Tamil films were honoured in this edition of the awards, with Aaranya Kaandam getting an award for the Best Film by a Debut Director (Thiagarajan Kumaraja) and Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai being selected for being the Best Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
Shah Rukh Khan, whose ambitious film Ra.One was slammed by the critics for the numerous loopholes in its plot, must have smiled when the film picked up an award the Best Special Effects. Possibly the biggest surprise for the average person was the triumph of Rupa Ganguly, who is best known for her performance of Draupadi in the television serial Mahabharat. Ganguly won an award, but not for acting. Instead, she won the nation’s biggest honour for singing in the movies by picking up the Best Female Playback Singing award in Abosheshey.
For many sincere followers of Indian cinema – in other words, those who watch a lot beyond hyped Hindi films and mainstream Hollywood releases – the 59th National Film Awards was a bliss-laden revelation. The Awards reflected the sort of diversity which is both ideal and necessary. For instance, the selection of Byari will encourage many more intrepid filmmakers to make what they want: even if that means coming up with a film in a dialect which hasn’t been used for cinematic expression ever.
That the Indian film industry has been experiencing a continuous growth is a well-known fact. What’s better is that it is isn’t growing in one direction.
