[Urbanstudy] Ab Hamar Film Hit Hoi

[Anuj Bhuwania]

 brilliant article. amazingly revealing interesting in terms of a
disaggregation of cinema going urban publics at so many levels



http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20051003&fname=Films+%28F%29&sid=1


Magazine|  Oct 03, 2005

cinema

*Ab Hamar Film Hit Hoi*

* The flavour of the season is Bhojpuri. These small films rake it in where
the mega-budget ones flop.*

 NAMRATA JOSHI   Moti, Raj, Gagan, Swarn would have been long dead. These
decrepit Delhi cinema halls had resigned themselves to imminent obsolescence
when fancy multiplexes with their city-slick fairy tales had begun driving
the Bollywood bazaar. But in the last couple of years, these old-world
cinema paradisos have been given a new kiss of life by the success of fringe
cinema of a largely unknown kind—Bhojpuri films.

This formidable phenomenon has been enjoying a great run at the margins of
the Indian box office. Top heroes are Ravi Kishan (with 12 films in hand)
and Manoj Tiwari Mridul (acting in another half a dozen), the most sought
after heroine is Naghma, the big producers are Bollywood playback singer
Udit Narayan and Mohanji Prasad and the recent megahit is called *Panditji
Batai Na Biyah Kab Hoi*. Made at Rs 60 lakh, it has been running for more
than 50 days in Patna and has earned four times more than the
blockbuster *Bunty
Aur Babli*. "These films have been doing well right under our noses yet
people don't know they are there," says Naghma. Currently about 30 Bhojpuri
films are under production. Around 16-odd films get released every year,
boasting a success rate of 98 per cent. Bollywood, in comparison, musters
only about a 10-12 per cent success rate. "It's boom time," says Kishan.
"Our market has emerged," adds Narayan.

The bull run for Bhojpuri cinema began last year with Manoj Tiwari's *Sasura
Bada Paisewala*. Bought by the distributor for a modest Rs 10-15 lakh, it
garnered about Rs 2 crore in Bihar and eastern UP. It was followed by
another hit, *Daroga Babu I Love You*. "In these areas, these films have
been doing much better than any big star cast Hindi film," says distributor
Sanjay Mehta. So much so that even the video rights for these modest films
are going for as high as Rs 20 lakh. "You can call it the Laloo phenomenon
of cinema," says Mehta.

Bhojpuri cinema came to life way back in 1961 with *Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari
Chadhaibo, Balam Pardesia* was the big hit of the '70s. Since then the
industry has faced several ups and downs and has now got reborn in a new,
glamorous avatar. Here's how:

   - Bhojpuri films are now regularly shot abroad. Narayan's production *Kab
   Hoi Gauna Hamar* was the first such film which was shot in Mauritius.
   Recently three films—*Babul Pyaare, Dil Diwana Tohar Ho Gayi* and *
   Ganga*—wrapped up an extended schedule in London. This week saw the
   release of *Firangi Dulhania* which isn't just shot abroad but also
   boasts of a Ukrainian actress, Tanya, in the lead role, a first for Bhojpuri
   films.
   - Big daddy Bollywood is courting Bhojpuri. Thespian Dilip Kumar is
   producing a film with Ravi Kishan in the lead role, Amitabh Bachchan and
   Hema Malini are acting in *Ganga*, Raj Babbar stars in *Babul
Pyaare*and Rati Agnihotri appears in
   *Mat Bhulaiye Mai Baap Ke*. Ajay Devgan has already done a guest
   appearance in a Bhojpuri film. Famous choreographer Saroj Khan is turning
   director with *Dil Diwana Tohar Ho Gayi*, action director Tinnu Verma
   is filming a remake of *Mera Gaon Mera Desh* and failed Bollywood
   heroines like Hrishitaa Bhatt and Preeti Jhangiani have found a new career
   in them.
   - Bhojpuri films are also getting corporate backing. Vijay Mallya's
   film production unit is reportedly producing three Bhojpuri films. So is
   Ektaa Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms and AB Corp.
   - Big Hindi films, like *Namak Halal*, are now being dubbed and
   re-released in Bhojpuri. A fight is on to get the dubbing rights of 30-40
   films including *Sholay* and *Deewar*. Last heard, Fox was rumoured to
   be dabbling with the idea of dubbing Hollywood films into Bhojpuri.


What works for Bhojpuri films are tight budgets and disciplined
filmmaking.The budget is normally in the range of Rs 30-40 lakh with the
bigger ones getting made in about Rs 60-80 lakh.The production also get
wrapped up in three months flat. "There are no star tantrums on the sets, no
indiscipline, no waste of time, no juices and sandwiches from 5 Star hotels.
We mean business," says Kishan. However, with the recent spell of success
the budgets are getting a lot more liberal. *Kab Hoi*..., for instance, was
shot with Rs 1.5 crore, huge by Bhojpuri standards.

The most significant shift is how the market for Bhojpuri films has gone way
beyond Bihar and eastern UP. "The territory has started to grow," says
Mehta. These films are doing well in Jammu, Kashmir, Jalandhar, Ludhiana,
Panipat, Kurukshetra, Noida and Gurgaon which have a sizeable population of
the migrant labour from Bihar. "It's the belt along the GT Road where the
Bihar labourers have settled down," says Mehta. There is an estimated 40
lakh Bhojpuri-speaking population in Mumbai, 18 lakh in Punjab and about 8
lakh in Delhi. Bengal and Nepal are emerging as the next big markets.

Bhojpuri films tend to do very well in the industrial areas like Badarpur or
the theatres in Thane in Maharashtra. Hindi films run for about three weeks
there while Bhojpuri ones go on for 6-8 weeks. Recently *Bandhan Toote
Na*completed 100 days in Bombay. "That's a dream run even for
mainstream
Bollywood," says Kishan. Mehta says about a dozen hole-in-the-wall theatres
in Delhi depend entirely on Bhojpuri films for survival.

Bhojpuri films have also created a committed subset of loyal viewers within
the growing nri audience. The films have found huge following in the
diaspora in Fiji, Mauritius and the West Indies where, years ago, Biharis
had gone as indentured labour. Udit Narayan thought of producing *Kab Hoi*...
when he went for a show to Mauritius. "It was a small India. It was good to
see how people had kept the Bhojpuri culture alive," he says. So through his
period film, *Kab Hoi*..., set a century ago in Mauritius, he looked at the
clash between the Britishers and sugarcane plantation labourers.

But at the very basic, the resurgence in Bhojpuri films has been because of
mainstream Bollywood itself. In its quest for niche urban crowds and NRI
audiences, Bollywood has steadily moved away from the non-metro masses. "The
audience which pays Rs 20 for a film ticket is getting neglected, his
sensibility is getting ignored," says Mehta. "A guy who wants to eat
home-cooked food is being offered dishes from a five-star hotel, they are
wasted on him," says Kishan. So, the thrust is towards homegrown subjects
and a sense of rootedness, not technicolour fantasies. Much like the family
socials of the '60s, the concerns are largely to do with marriage and
family. "*Devar, bhabhi, gauna*. There's a native, Rajshree touch to these
films," says Vinod Mirani, editor, *Box Office*. "*Sindoor, mangalsutra* and
lots of emotions. We sell our culture and tradition than sex," says Kishan.

Another popular genre is the Govinda-David Dhawan kind of risque comedies
complete with double entendres. But they have now begun experimenting with
newer subjects. A satire on the political system, *Banke Bihari MLA*, is
under way. "Soon we will have our own Manmohan Desai and Yash Chopra brand
of cinema," says Kishan. Ironically, then the migrant labourer from Bihar
and his Moti cinema hall will have to look for another kind of cinema to
connect with.


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