Biopics and sequels to rule the roost

Nonika Singh
Assistant editor

As we stand at the beginning of a new year, as we look back and look ahead, as crystal gazing begins, what do we see and hear? First and foremost, the echo of the song ‘Besharam Rang’ is likely to resonate, loud and acerbic, and might set new standards of what is ‘glorious’ in our faith and culture. The picturisation of the song from ‘Pathaan’ might have ruffled feathers, but nothing can contain the buzz around the film or Shah Rukh Khan, who will also be seen in ‘Jawan’.

This year, the past will continue to beat in Bollywood’s big heart. We only wish and hope that it does so in newer magical ways. For, what is cinema? It’s magic in the service of dreams, said Senegalese film director Djibril Diop Mambéty. Will our dream of India winning the Best Film Oscar come true?

In sync with the evolving dynamics of movie making, much is expected from the alchemy of South and North. ‘Jawan’, by Tamil filmmaker Atlee, besides featuring Tamil and Telugu star Nayanthara, stars Vijay Sethupathi. The latter is also paired with Katrina Kaif in the Sriram Raghvan-directed ‘Merry Christmas’. That southern stars carry weight was established long ago. Today, casting stars from South India in mega-budget Hindi films like ‘Brahmastra’ is a de-facto reality. Besides Ranbir Kapoor, the upcoming ‘Animal’ will feature Rashmika Mandanna, who debuted in Hindi films with ‘Goodbye’.

In 2022, a southern storm blew across the film world and we were bowled over by the likes of Ram Charan, NTR Rao Jr, Yash and Dulquer Salmaan, who not only found pan-India acceptance but stardom as well. One film after another from the South set the box office on fire. It also gave us the year’s best love story, ‘Sita Ramam’, a period film with poetic resonance rising above religious bigotry.

Return to roots seemed to be the all-prevailing sentiment in 2022, a year marked more by upheavals than upshots. ‘Kantara’s’ writer-director Rishab Shetty’s public confession — “I will make movies only in Kannada” — and ‘RRR’ writer KV Vijayendra Prasad’s statement — “I dip into our epics for inspiration” — could well serve as the roadmap for movie moguls in 2023. Even Pan Nalin, whose ‘Chhello Show’ (Last Film Show), India’s official entry to the Oscars, also shortlisted for the Best International Feature Film category at the 95th Academy Awards, believes that only stories rooted in soil will acquire wings and global appeal.

But can Bollywood bigwigs navigate their way out of flopdom so easily? The year saw more flops than hits and ended badly for the Hindi film industry, with even Rohit Shetty’s ‘Cirkus’ failing to rake in the numbers. For most part of the year, everyone was busy writing Bollywood’s epitaph. It’s not as if cinegoers had forsaken cinema halls in favour of the OTT platforms; a film would catch their imagination every couple of months. Only, these hits defied pre-set boundaries and created new ones. While established superstars like Akshay Kumar and Ranveer Singh failed, new ones like actor-director Rishab Shetty were crowned as game-changers.

Viewers were enraptured by stories of the marginalised, tribals, ordinary people, real-life tragedies, our glorious past and even horror comedies. But could anyone decode the formula of success? Only a few seemed to have a clue. Except, it takes great imagination to capture the imagination of viewers. Success of films like ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, ‘Kantara’, ‘The Kashmir Files’, ‘RRR’ and ‘KGF-2’ made us believe that stories of those on the margins of society evoke admiration. ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ told us the real-life story of Gangubai, a prostitute-turned-leader. ‘Kantara’, drenched in local flavour and fervour, took us to a remote village in Karnataka and its customs and ‘RRR’ harked back to the 1920s, reimaging the story of two revolutionaries, otherwise not connected in history. ‘Ponniyin Selvan I’ (PS-I) was a walk down history lane as Mani Ratnam recreated the splendour of the Chola empire. But be it ‘Gangubai’ or ‘RRR’ or box office juggernaut ‘KGF-2’, these were no ordinary tales told in an ordinary humdrum fashion. These films were mounted like a spectacle. Most called for suspension of disbelief. Cinematographers such as KK Senthil Kumar (‘RRR’), Ravi Varman (‘PS-I’) and Sudeep Chatterjee (‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’) can easily take a bow for lending a lyrical dimension to their directors’ vision.

Be it SS Rajamouli or Sanjay Leela Bhansali or Mani Ratnam, they laid out, as is their wont, a sumptuous visual feast. Ratnam’s two-part Rs 500-crore visual extravaganza made action look as stupendous as real. Rishab Shetty’s budget for ‘Kantara’ may not have been fantastical, yet the treatment was, as it blended fantasy, yakshagana and folklore with gore to create a visually stunning film. Sure, ‘RRR’ dipped right into history as well as mythology but, ultimately, it was Rajamouli’s risk-taking ability, a massive budget of Rs 550 crore, far exceeding his previous magnum opus ‘Baahubali’, coupled with his vision, flight of fantasy, technological craft and the art of story-telling, that set the cash registers ringing.

Spectacle became a byword for entertainment. Hollywood flicks ruled the roost, sailing on its singular ability to create marvels. Marvel’s cinematic universe continued to depend on the tried and tested sequels. ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, once again riding on the wow factor, scored well. Ditto for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘Batman’. Another Hollywood biggie, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, picked up a massive opening of Rs 40 crore. It has earned more than Rs 350 crore in India, and is still going strong.

Expectedly, the spectacle is only going to go up a notch higher as Hollywood’s plate is full of many more stunning offerings. Christopher Nolan, who continues to blur lines between fiction and science, is ready with ‘Oppenheimer’. The film documents the life of physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, and Nolan has recreated the first nuclear weapon detonation without computer-generated imagery (CGI). Tom Cruise at 60 continues to do his own stunts. For his next ‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning (Part One)’, his deadly stunts, including free fall and jump from a cliff, will set new benchmarks in action. Closer home, ‘PS-II’, ready for release on April 28, can only be a befittingly majestic sequel. ‘Pushpa’, too, is going to return with Allu Arjun’s swagger intact.

In the rise of the OTT, many have read the decimation of the star system. The success of series like ‘Khakee’ and ‘Panchayat’ led us to believe that stars are redundant. However, hit Punjabi web series ‘CAT’ about a police informant and Tamil film ‘Jai Bhim’, which spoke of blatant discrimination against tribals, were both propelled by the star power of Randeep Hooda and Suriya, respectively.

Bollywood remains bitten by the biopic bug this year as well. Stars, right from Ajay Devgn (as football coach Syed Abdul Rahim) to Randeep Hooda (‘Veer Savarkar’) and Pankaj Tripathi (‘Atal’), will get into the skin of their characters. Vicky Kaushal will play India’s first Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw (‘Sam Bahadur’), Anuskha Sharma will be bowler Jhulan Goswami (‘Chakda ‘Xpress’) and Akshay Kumar will play real-life hero Jaswant Gill, who rescued 65 coal miners in 1989. Pratik Gandhi, the bona fide star of OTT, will be seen as Mahatma Gandhi in a series by Hansal Mehta. Mehta’s preoccupation with digging into the past and scams, too, will roll on with yet another series, this time on the Telgi scam.

Old remains new as sequels to blockbuster series ‘Mirzapur’, ‘Paatal Lok’ and ‘Made in Heaven’ are in the offing. However, more is expected from Zoya Akhtar’s adaptation of Archie comics, ‘The Archies’. Starring Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan and Agstya Nanda, whom trollers would dub as nepo kids, it will be a reminder of the old order changeth… However, the past, including the Emergency, will continue to beat in Bollywood’s big heart. We only wish and hope that it does so in newer magical ways. For, what is cinema? It’s magic in the service of dreams, said Senegalese film director Djibril Diop Mambéty. Will our dream of India winning the Best Film Oscar come true? Well, since the film in the reckoning this year ‘Chhello Show’ is as much about the love for cinema as hope, we can certainly hope so. Salut 2023!