At this year?s Star Screen Awards, Udaan, an endearing coming-of-age film, bagged the two top honours?best film and best director. The film, made at a budget of less than Rs 5 crore, went on to win eight awards at the Filmfare awards, including the best story, screenplay, music and so forth. Between the top two awards of the season, the Vikramaditya Motwane-directed, Anurag Kashyap-produced film had won 11 awards. At the Zee Cine awards, Udaan bagged the Jury Award for the Best Film and the Best Director category.
Udaan had wowed audiences at Cannes, did well at the box-office and will see a fresh lease of life after the awards.The recognition is particularly sweet because though Motwane?s script was ready in 2003, he couldn?t release the film till 2010. He had taken it to every producer who gave him various reasons to spurn it, till friends Kashyap and businessman Sanjay Singh jumped into the fray to produce the film and released it last year. ?It?s a big deal for a small film to win so many awards,? says Motwane, who is all set to launch a new DVD. Udaan will also be premiered on TV. ?Everyday someone or the other calls to say how much they loved the film,? says Motwane, pointing out that the awards will make many more people curious about the film, which is ?very good for me, and other film-makers like me.? The film?s success will open doors for many small, well-made films.
In fact, last year, the four biggest films, Kites, Raavan, Guzaarish and Tees Maar Khan, flopped, while many small films including Anusha Rizvi?s Peepli Live and Dibakar Banerjee?s Love, Sex and Dhoka did well at the box-office. ?Make them small, market them well,? says Motwane, explaining why small films succeeded last year. This year, at the awards too, small films with a variety of themes and genres dominated. Besides Udaan, Habib Faisal?s Do Dooni Char which brought back the hit Rishi Kapoor-Neetu Singh pair depicting a very middle-class story about a teacher and his family?s quest for a car, Rizvi?s stunning take on the urban-rural divide Peepli, Dibakar?s LSD, another provocative film on voyeurism and society, first-timer Maneesh Sharma?s romantic comedy Band Baaja Baarat all won awards.
It?s been a trend for two-three years now, small films doing well at the box-office, and winning awards as well. In 2008, Neeraj Pandey bagged the best director award at Star Screen for his taut thriller, A Wednesday; this year Vidya Balan got the best actress award at two awards events for her role in Ishqiya. In fact, when Neeraj Pandey walked up to accept his award, there were many in the industry who admitted they were seeing him for the first time. A host of new directors, actors, writers and musicians are taking over Bollywood, shaking up old hierarchies, established norms. With new faces and talent, new ideas are sweeping in, making the film industry an exciting place to be in.
The year has begun well with two films, as different as can be, pulling in the crowds. Rajkumar Gupta?s No One Killed Jessica and Kiran Rao?s Dhobi Ghat. Jessica, made at a budget of Rs 9 crore, grossed Rs 22 crore in the first weekend and Dhobi Ghat is sure to be on awards lists next year. Dibakar Banerjee?s Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, LSD, Anurag Kashyap?s Dev D have also met with critical and mass acclaim. Films like LSD pushed the envelope like none other. For Kiran Rao, director of Dhobi Ghat, surely one of the most interesting releases of 2011 so far, LSD was the film of 2010. But most, including Karan Johar, went with Udaan.
?The latitude of acceptance has become wider,? says Motwane, ?cool and experimental people are making films which is good.? UTV Spotboy?s Vikas Bahl says, ?There are many stories out there?when a good suggestion comes in you must know how to grab it.? UTV Spotboy produced Dev D, Udaan and No One Killed Jessica.
After the widespread acceptance from within the industry as well, Motwane says the ?ball is firmly back in our court? we shouldn?t slacken now.? So, what?s Motwane or for that matter Rajkumar Gupta toying with? Motwane says he is working on ?multiple things?, and Gupta firmly says he wants to try out new genres, for he doesn?t want to repeat his films. ?I don?t want to make what I have already made,? says Gupta.
New ideas, new modes of distribution and, most important, new people are breathing in fresh air into an old industry. Let the awards roll in.