A land of good cinema?
Matrubhoomi is a portrait of a harsh Indian reality, says Saibal Chatterjee.
Getting a small, non-mainstream Hindi film into full-fledged nationwide theatrical distribution is always an uphill task. Debutant director Manish Jha has been lucky. Matrubhoomi: A Land without Women, the 26-year-old filmmaker’s searing expose of female infanticide in rural Bihar, has the active backing of a big-ticket production and distribution set-up like Boney Kapoor’s.
The film has, of course, encountered all the usual obstacles – exasperating procrastinations, frustrating postponements and dire proclamations regarding its perceived non-viability – on the way to the urban multiplexes.
Two years after its completion, it is finally ready to vie for the attention of filmgoers in the face of competition from a mainstream behemoth like Anubhav Sinha’s Dus, which opens on the same day around the country, for the attention of filmgoers.
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| A still from Matrubhoomi |
Significantly,
Matrubhoomi
isn’t being released in the big cities alone. The distribution strategy chalked out for the film includes reaching out to audiences in smaller towns around the country.
The very fact that a disturbing, uncompromising celluloid portrait of a harsh Indian reality – the dehumanization of men in a society where women have been systematically and heartlessly weeded out – is today being pitted against an action-packed multi-starrer is a wonderfully happy augury. It provides evidence, however tenuous it may be at the present moment, that the distribution-exhibition sector is warming up to experimental cinematic fare.
While Dus promises a range of high-octane stunts and a battery of stars, including the likes of Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Esha Deol and Zayed Khan, Manish Jha’s maiden effort proffers a stark portrayal of a world gone awry. Entertainment versus enlightenment? If the latter triumphs over the former, India will no longer be a land without discernment.
It’s been said before, but it merits yet another reiteration. As the number of multiplexes multiplies around the country – these swanky screening facilities are expected to cross the 200-mark in the next few years – the clamour for a wider variety of films is bound to increase.
The upward spiral has already begun with films like Onir’s AIDS drama My Brother Nikhil and Sudhir Mishra’s Emergency era tale Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi not only sneaking into the space that was once reserved only for big starcast films but also managing to hold their own long enough to be declared commercial successes.
This phenomenon has obviously raised hopes that young filmmakers with bright ideas have infinitely better scope today than ever before to bring their cinematic visions to the screen.
But proponents of meaningful cinema know that films that have something to say without their socio-political environs still have a fair distance to go before they can hope to run on their steam. At the present juncture, unconventional films still rely on support from big banners to get into the mainstream marketplace.
My Brother Nikhil was distributed by Yash Raj Films. Hazaaron Khwaishein… made it to the theatres under the banner of Pritish Nandy Communications. And now, Boney Kapoor has thrown his considerable weight behind the promotion and release of Matrubhoomi.
As the rules of the distribution business change over the next two years, chances of the smaller film production sector players finding a secure toehold in the theatrical space will rise appreciably, making low-budget, issue-based cinema increasingly viable.
As more and more such films begin to recover the investments made on them, their numbers will grow dramatically, changing the face of Hindi cinema completely in the bargain. That, coupled with the fact that mainstream films too are now beginning to embrace thematic and narrative unconventionality with the blessings of some of biggest stars and production banners of the day, can only help Mumbai cinema improve the overall quality of its output.
We can hardly wait. It’s been long overdue.