By Prashanta Ch. Panda, Rasananda Panda & Ms. Gurpreet Kour : The other day we opened our lunch box, we felt like running out like Paan Singh Tomar. Same old story is unfolding day in day out. Days of Vickey Donor never visited us or the angry Ishaqzaade. But thanks to Dedh Ishquia, we could feel the pulse of young desire in us. We cannot complain more as our favourite Bollywood is breaking the shadows of urban tales. Bollywood is putting the real India on the movie map.

The landscapes of very filmy ideas are changing. Audience loves it in both multiplexes and single theaters even if the story base is rural. Language of “Gangs of Wasseypore” has moved out from coal belt of Jharkhand to Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar.

Prolific stories of small town are bringing together similar mindsets and stations in life , and related memories which are not united by someone else’s past but one’s own present . These narratives are hitting the right pulse of more than 250 million middle class populations in India and NRIs settled overseas as well. Seemingly, it is feasible now as small town mindset is open to experimentation. Existing cinematography takes us back to our culture and heritage, integrating our roots in the process to the losing past.

Studio model system is allowing a good script ends in a much value added product by sheer strength of content. The whole cycle is completing in six months to a year. Production resources, distribution, sales are now pre-planned. Indian film industry is estimated to be more than Rs 13,000 crores and growing at a CAGR of 11.5%.With population in excess of 120 crores and annual GDP growth rate of 8.3 % during 2006-12, led to a large increase in spending on discretionary items. We have more than 600 television channels, 100 million pay-TV households. Besides there are 70,000 newspapers and 1,000 films produced annually.

India’s vibrant media and entertainment (M&E) industry provides attractive growth opportunities for globalcorporations.Technology allows Studios experimenting with new release windows.In distinct windows they are charging differentiated prices to consumers. Films are now available for home theatrical screening the day of theatrical release, and beamed directly to homes by digital cinema. Advent of 4G enhances the scope.

As risks have been diversified in organized way rural themed movies run much ahead of rural-urban divide. The small town growth story not only beautifies the town and its simplicity in their way of living but also showcases the generations, rooted-in-reality flavour that works well with the pan India audience. Box office results are more encouraging even without big ticket star cast.

Money Talks

Source- Industry Estimate and Sunil Wadhwa

Movies like  “Fukrey” portraying the adolescence, comic-turned-tragic love story “Raanjhanaa” , innocent bride in “Queen” , hilarious connections in “Oye Lucky LuckyOye,” couple’s struggle in “Citylights”, “Dor” in towns of Rajasthan,Natha of Peepli live, heart-touching story of a boy in ‘Udaan’ and many more puts together segregated pieces of people, places and past of life that we all have lived, grown and cherished with.

Reflecting more on small town stories,AnandRai’s “Tanu Weds Manu” series starring KanganaRanaut and Madhavan shows a quirky love story between the wacky Tanu and stable Manu in Kanpur and breaking myth of happily ever after married life.Yash Raj Films’ movie ShuddhDesi Romance, starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Parineeti Chopra, is about how the small-town youth view modern-day relationship, Rai’s “Raanjhnaa”, Sonam Kapoor and Tamil star Dhanush are Varanasi residents entangled in matters of the heart, Habib Faisal’s version of Romeo and Juliet “Ishqzaade” is set in quaint Almora, Imtiaz Ali’s romantic extravaganza Jab we Met, Abhishek Chaubhey’ sishqiya and never ending list is not just creating multi-cultural, absolute fresh piece of cinema but also irrigating our roots that are linked to unforgettable similar stories.

Not only this, inclusion of folk songs which are beautiful and soulful and stays with us long after we’ve heard deepens the connection and. When one listens to folk songs/ regional music  like ‘ Sasural-genda-phool’, it connects to the memories of vanishing villages to heart and reality. Pakistani folk song jugni, Punjabi folk ambarsariya in Fukrey, Navarraimanjai in English Vinglish and many more which have been inspired by folk musicare linking the new India to its glories of enriched culture. Also, other metaphors like transportation system (yellow cabs in Kolkata), street food in Delhi, roadside stalls in Mumbai, etc. reminds of “mohalla”-ness and sense of togetherness those blossoms into childhood memories and a life one wants to live again.

Nevertheless, small town girl emerging women oriented films like Queen movie story is of young Indian small town girl,Kahaanihighlighting the power of what a single woman can do, The Dirty Picture traces the journey of an ordinary woman who from being an extra on the film sets, becomes a top draw in the 80’s male dominated South industry. Producers & filmmakers now see enormous potential in the small/regional town stories, because of the raw edginess and power that it offers.

Besides, some of them feel that big cities (especially those abroad) have been overexposed as a source of visual inspiration & even for stories.According to Kashyap, it was about time the industry went back to exploring what lies in the interiors. “Not just villages, even smaller towns reflect the real India; a country that has very little to do with the much-fabled fast-paced metropolitan life.” Imtiaz Ali traces its roots saying“City life can be very impersonal. I like to make personal connections. In professional terms, since I hail from Jamshedpur, I did not have access to world cinema. When I came to Delhi and then Mumbai, I got exposed to it.”

Bollywood stars are shining more by increasingly embracing the heat and dust of India’s smaller towns. Directors find wide open landscapes and beautiful natural backdrops for movies.

(Prof Rasananda Panda, MICA, Ahmedabad , Prof.Prashanta Chandra Panda, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar and Ms. Gurpreet Kour  Research Scholar  at MICA)