Where is the distribution of National Award-winning films?

Where is the distribution of National Award-winning films?

Indian cinema has changed immensely in the last five decades. Content, style of storytelling, technology, nuances of characters have evolved, and so has the audience. During a session at the ongoing 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa, filmmakers Subhash Ghai and Shaji N Karun, and English film critic and historian Derek Malcolm touched upon various subjects of Indian cinema over the last 50 years. Trade analyst and film critic Taran Adarsh moderated the session. 

The Taal, Khalnayak and Ram Lakhan filmmaker said that today’s filmmakers are in a better place. “They can make films, they believe in,” said Subhash. But Shaji, who made films like Olu, Swapaanam, Kutty Shranku and Nishad, pointed out that National Award winning films do not find distribution. “Where is the distribution of National Award winning films? They do not release and it’s really shameful,” said Shaji, to which Subhash added, “Earlier, Doordarshan used to screen these films with subtitles, not anymore.” 

Sharing the secret of making both commercially successful and critically acclaimed films, Subhash said, “The secret is to make films of stories that you are born with, have faced during childhood, stories of your roots. But we try to ape the West. Do not borrow ideas because it won’t work here.”  

Sharing an incident about the great filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Malcolm said, “Once I had been to Ray’s house and I asked him, ‘Where are your awards?’ and he was, ‘I don’t know’. His wife then said, ‘Yes, you do’. After which Ray took me to his bedroom. He had kept all his awards in a trunk under the bed. Though, he had won many awards, many of his films didn’t make money. Ray wasn’t a rich man. He was in difficult times at the beginning and end of his life.”  

As the discussion moved towards parallel cinema, Subhash said that it’s sad to see that only a handful of people are watching these films in theatres. “If you are not listening to my story, I am failing as a filmmaker. We have to educate or imbibe aesthetics among the audience. Also, we need more platforms to screen such films. In Europe, the government spends heavily so that these films reach out to the audience,” he added. 

While Taran pointed out that Indian cinema is still largely entertainment and star driven, Subhash said that cinema has many layers. “Is cinema to entertain the brain or certain types of people? I believe it’s the first. It can also touch upon spirituality. Entertaining films have a certain kind of quality and commerce. Many mainstream films have raised the intelligence of the audience,” said Subhash.

Shaji added, “We should make more clever and intelligent films. Filmmakers need to create history not because there is enough money but there is enough intelligence.” 

As the topic moved towards budget, Subhash said it’s not the film that fails but the budget. “I have made all kinds of cinema. I have made films with one crore budget.  During the making of Joggers’ Park, I had told Anant Balani, my colleague from FTII, that I want him to make the film in one crore. I had said that the same thing to Nagesh Kukunoor during the making of Iqbal. I wanted him to make the film in two crores. I had told him, ‘If you spent more than that, it’s your responsibility,” the fimmaker said.

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