Weekend Exclusive | Modern Cinema needs to rid itself of cliches: Anant Mahadevan

Popular actor and director Anant Mahadevan was a part of the Percept Business Conclave 2012 which was held in Mumbai recently. He was a member of an esteemed panel which discussed the current and future trends in Bollywood and the entertainment industry at large.

 

Adgully caught up with Anant Mahadevan to know more about his thoughts on the evolution of cinema, modern day cinema and its implications.

 

Reflecting on the current trends that he observes in the Indian cinema and the entertainment industry, he said “Unfortunately, the kind of trends I would like to see are not happening. We don’t seem to be getting out of a certain kind of a rut which we have put ourselves into. It is very easy to blame the audiences and produce a formula that sells. At the end of the day, the question that remains unanswered is do you really want to make 100 crores and live today or make a film and live forever. The second thing is what I want to live for. We still need to break a lot of grounds in terms of concepts and ideas. The kind of cinema we make is still very amateur. It is still very formula driven and clichéd.”

 

Anant exclaims, “The films that are breaking ground right now are no match for the films that broke ground in the 70’s. We had a simpler situation when the formula happened in a very big way. We had films like Johny Mera Naam, Teesri Manzil and Victoria 203. All these formula films worked beautifully. And, then Shyam Benegal made Ankur, Manthan and Bhumika. Those films were much more powerful and much more complete in every sense than the kind of films we make today. Today, films are half-baked. Everyone has an idea. But somewhere, there is a disconnect in seeing a film and making a complete product. I believe this is what we lack and need to work upon.” He is extremely glad though that people are making an effort to produce different kinds of films.

 

Great packaging has become the need of the day. Modern cinema revolves around good packaging. Commenting on the same, he said, “Packaging comes in all shapes, sizes and budgets these days. When it’s a big budget film, you make it sound like the biggest happening on earth. Whereas, for a medium budget film, you know the film does not want to be overdone in terms of packaging and marketing, then you do the required. Each film has its own budget. A 5 crore film may or may not recover 100 crores, but a 20 crore film may do so; purely because it targets a bigger audience. The 5 crore film on the other hand is made for a certain kind of audience, who will come and see the film and patronize it. The film and the budget dictates the packaging.”

 

Anant asserts that entertainment is anything that keeps you arrested for a duration. He adds, “Entertainment can be serious or funny. It depends on the kind of film being made. Every film according to me is entertaining in its own way. Unfortunately, in India, we define entertainment as something that gives you a lot of fun and mirth. I believe it is something that keeps you engaged and gripped.”

 

On an end note, he says, “There is a thin line between commerce and creativity, which will continue to exist. The producer will talk about commerce, whereas the director will talk about creativity. It is where the two meet without compromising on each other’s ideals and grounds that is truly marvelous.”