Real to Reel
When Bollywood tells true stories
It’s widely believed that cinema reflects life, all that’s happening outside the darkened auditorium. Quite true, if one’s to go by what one’s been watching in Bollywood in recent years. Take, for example, the Manoj Bajpayee-driven Governor: The Silent Saviour. This is an amazing effort to recreate India’s 1991 dilemma, where it was on the verge of bankruptcy, with foreign exchange reserves plummeting to $1.2bn, barely covering two weeks of imports.
This happened because the Gulf War caused by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait led to global oil prices shooting to crazy heights, and expat Indians in West Asia losing their jobs, and because of the disintegration of USSR, then India’s largest trading partner. All this drama is compellingly handled in Governor, with its release this summer being stunningly timed, what with another Gulf crisis and another round of rising fuel prices, again making for anxious times for the nation. Bajpayee infuses great authenticity into RBI’s top man, his grim expression conveying the worry over how “Lakshmi” herself was walking out, as India pledged 67 tonnes of gold to avoid a sovereign default. But why break into Tamil? In a film that is so realistic, his Tamil diction jars.
There have been other Bollywood films that have blended history with cinema. In Dangal (2016), based on the Phogat family, Aamir Khan essays a strict but loving father. His performance is also a great example of physical transformation to make a character convincing, the character being an aging champion wrestler. Disappointed at not having a son to succeed him in the squared circle, he trains his daughters in the violent sport instead, despite all the amusement and ridicule with which this is met by village folk. Like Governor, this sports feature is also scripted, shot, and helmed with amazing realism.
Another example of will power and fortitude, 12th Fail (2023) has Vikrant Massey playing a poor, struggling youth who dreams of becoming an IPS officer. Again based on a true-life story, this movie is just as inspiring as Dangal, conveying how hard work and the will to succeed can help overcome formidable hurdles, to reach the goalpost. These are but a few instances of how Bollywood has graduated from silly running-around-trees rituals and unrealistic song-and-dance sequences to a mature form of storytelling. What is more, audiences are ready for it.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
