{"id":190867,"date":"2013-09-14T16:18:49","date_gmt":"2013-09-14T10:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tehelka.com\/?p=190867"},"modified":"2013-09-14T16:18:49","modified_gmt":"2013-09-14T10:48:49","slug":"eating-oscar-for-lunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/eating-oscar-for-lunch\/","title":{"rendered":"Eating Oscar for Lunch?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Soul
Soul food<\/strong> A still from The Lunchbox<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nAt the Delhi screening of The Lunchbox<\/em>, in front of the who\u2019s who of the city, lead actor Irrfan Khan announced that the film was being released around the country on 20 September, five months ahead of schedule, so that it has a shot at being selected as India\u2019s official entry for the Oscars. This film, made on a shoestring budget of $1.5 million and directed by first time director Ritesh Batra, is being backed strongly by its US buyer Sony Picture Classics. So strongly, says Khan, that they are guaranteeing a place in the top five if The Lunchbox<\/em> gets the Oscar nod.
\nIn May, The Lunchbox\u00a0<\/em>premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the viewers\u2019 choice award. Overnight, the story of an aging government employee (Khan) and a younger, lonely housewife (Nimrat Kaur), whose epistolary romance begins thanks to a mistake made by Mumbai\u2019s famously faultless dabbawalas, became the talk of the festival.
\nFor the past year or so, alternative voices in Indian cinema have found a steady place in the spotlight. These films are having their cake and eating it \u2014 receiving critical acclaim on the international festival circuit and making money at the domestic box office. No longer are Indian films in international festivals patronised as standard Bollywood fare, and no longer are they patronised by distributors back home as being too \u2018arty\u2019 for the audience.
\nNawazuddin Siddiqui, who even before The Lunchbox<\/em> was a regular face in offbeat cinema, attributes this success to Gangs of Wasseypur<\/em> and Miss Lovely<\/em>. \u201cThe international audience was not prepared for good cinema to come out of India,\u201d he says. Nor, it seemed, were Indian distributors and theatres. It took an extraordinary marketing campaign by the team behind Anand Gandhi\u2019s Ship of Theseus<\/em>, and almost unprecedented box office success for a movie of its size, for theatres to give the film, made on a budget of Rs 2.5 crore, a five-week run across India. Ship of Theseus<\/em> is this year\u2019s indie darling and a film as different from The Lunchbox<\/em> as the proverbial chalk and cheese.
\nBut this difference is a good thing, a promising sign for the future of indie cinema in the country. Eschewing the Bollywood \u2018formula\u2019\u2014 which Anand Gandhi has compared to \u201cjunk food, like a Big Mac\u201d and Irrfan Khan calls \u201cfluffy time-pass\u201d \u2014 has not resulted in the peddling of some equally hackneyed indie formula. The Lunchbox, Ship of Theseus, Gangs of Wasseypur, Miss Lovely, Udaan…<\/em> no film resembles the other but they\u2019re all part of the same conversation.
\nThe appeal of The Lunchbox<\/em>, say its three stars, lies in its unusual love story. It starts with a miracle, says Kaur \u2014 a dabbawala who makes the wrong delivery. Then there is the romance of letter-writing, a practice that is mostly obsolete. It is a quiet film, without very much dialogue, expert in its use of silence. That silence makes much more effective the cacophony and bustle of dabbawalas at work, plying their daily routes.
\nMumbai\u2019s dabbawalas, though they have existed since 1880, shot to worldwide fame with a 2005 Harvard study which found that they make less than one mistake in every six million deliveries. When accused of making a mistake in the film, a dabbawala quotes the Harvard statistic and a 2003 visit by Prince Charles as proof of their infallibility. They may be a plot device, but director Batra gives these remarkable white-clad men ample screen time, following them on their journeys across the city. \u201cI wanted to make a documentary on them,\u201d he says now. \u201cBut when I embedded myself with them, they started telling me personal stories, about the people they meet, such as housewives.\u201d
\nThese stories inspired a script which caught the attention and interest of Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap Films CEO and the co-founder of Sikhya Entertainment, and of US-based film producer Lydia Pilcher. Monga brought in Siddiqui, and Pilcher, in turn, got in touch with Irrfan Khan, whom she had worked with on Life of Pi.<\/em> Batra says loneliness and love are universal. It\u2019s what makes his film appealing anywhere in the world and explains why companies in India, the US, Germany and France have been involved in the production.
\nThe Lunchbox<\/em> may have a small budget, an offbeat story but is that enough to define it as independent? Filmmaker Anusha Rizvi says that a working definition for a film to be considered independent is that not more than 50 percent of its financing should come from an established studio. But, she asks, does this mean that since, say, the original Star Wars<\/em> did not have studio backing, would it be classified as independent cinema? Anand Gandhi prefers the term auteur cinema, films that adhere to a director\u2019s vision rather than the dictates of studios, stars and audiences.
\nOf course, \u2018auteur cinema\u2019 in India is not new. Such films have always existed on the periphery of the mainstream, says film scholar Rachel Dwyer, going back to the work of Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal and the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) produced films of the 1970s and the \u201980s. There is though, Khan points out, no easy line to be drawn from the \u2018parallel cinema\u2019 then and indie cinema now. Those films, he says, were sponsored by government largesse. They had no responsibility to turn a profit.
\nThat lack of a commercial imperative meant that avant-garde films, like Kamal Swaroop\u2019s Om Dar-Ba-Dar<\/em> (1988), went straight from international festivals to cult classic status without ever being screened in an Indian theatre. In a recent interview with the Indian Express<\/em>, Swaroop recalled how people thought his film was \u201cmad\u201d, that it should never have been made. It is only now, a quarter of a century later, that the NFDC will release a digitally restored print. Distributors in India have always been notoriously skittish about the films they believe are commercially unviable, unwilling to gamble on a film they think might not sell.
\nIt\u2019s an unfriendly, unforgiving climate that has made the current crop of independent filmmakers think harder and smarter about how to market their films. The Lunchbox<\/em> is being presented to audiences by Karan Johar, a figure who is almost the definition of mainstream and big budget. Similarly, Ship of Theseus<\/em>, was presented by Kiran Rao. Its marketing team also ran a smart publicity campaign on social media, asking people to vote for the movie to come to their city, which created the sort of \u2018word of mouth\u2019 buzz that kept Ship of Theseus<\/em> in theatres much longer than its makers dared to hope. Peepli Live<\/em> (2010) was backed by Aamir Khan, while Dibaker Banerjee is being backed by Yash Raj Films. Anurag Kashyap has a reputation for lending his weight and industry cachet to debut films such as last year\u2019s Peddlers<\/em>, directed by the unknown Vasan Bala.
\nThis companionship between mainstream powerhouses and more experimental filmmakers \u2014 many of them first-timers \u2014 has proved an effective counter to the wariness of distributors and theatre owners. \u201cA film going to a festival doesn\u2019t automatically mean it\u2019s art house, inaccessible\u201d explains Monga. There is an acceptance among young filmmakers that \u201ccinema is a commercial art\u201d, as Khan puts it. \u201cDistributors have a job to do. The onus is also on us to make films that do business,\u201d says Batra. Business does not only mean becoming part of the 100-crore club. It also means low-budget films like The Lunchbox<\/em> that have the savvy to make profits and find a place alongside behemoths like Chennai Express<\/em>.
\nNot that it\u2019s easy. Or that distributors are willing to bet on every small budget film. Tasher Desh<\/em>, veteran filmmaker Q\u2019s latest offering, a trippy adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore\u2019s famous play, is still waiting for a nation-wide release date. The Kashyap-backed Peddlers<\/em> was also not picked up despite the obligatory successful screening at Cannes. Giving space to films that are not tried and tested star vehicles still requires courage from distributors. But at least the definition of commercially viable cinema is broadening, however slowly, to include movies that are layered and intelligent.
\n\u201cOf course, commercial films have had good content alongside the song and dance,\u201d says Khan. \u201cGuide<\/em> is about freedom of the spirit, of the body, and from conventional relationships.\u201d The Lunchbox<\/em> may not have songs or dancing but like Guide<\/em> it does offer romance and friendship, familiar tropes with any audience. Let\u2019s hope that\u2019s a version of the future: cinema, commercial or independent, that a wide variety of people pay to watch without having to leave their brains at the door.<\/p>\n
\n

INTERVIEW<\/span>
\n\u2018I have a fondness for love stories\u2019<\/span>
\nThe talk of Cannes 2013, ‘The Lunchbox’, releases in India on 20 September. Lead actor and producer Irrfan Khan<\/strong> talks to Aradhna Wal<\/strong> about the universal appeal of romance, his fondness for ‘Guide’ and the lost art of storytelling in today\u2019s cinema<\/em>
\n\"irfan<\/a>
\nHow did you come to be part of The Lunchbox<\/em>?<\/strong>
\nThe\u00a0American\u00a0film producer Lydia Pilcher, who knew me from Life of Pi<\/em>, sent me the script. I liked it, because of the emotions\u00a0in it. I have a fondness for love stories, and I identify with the emotion. I saw Ritesh Batra\u2019s short films, and they were fantastic. He is basically trying to capture the actor. However, at some point there were budget issues with The Lunchbox<\/em>. The film was not able to afford me. Also, I wanted to be\u00a0a\u00a0producer;\u00a0it helps me keep control over the stories, not let them be changed to something else. So I came on board as a producer for The Lunchbox<\/em>.
\nCan you tell us more about pushing The Lunchbox<\/em> for the Oscars?\u00a0<\/b>
\nAt Cannes 2013, we got an amazing reaction. We sold the movie overnight. The biggest market is the American market, and Sony Pictures Classics picked us up. They assured us of their backing in the Oscars. They said that they would ensure that it at least got nominated in the top five. This is a unique story. And the Oscars are a great opportunity. If you don\u2019t choose the right film for the Oscars,\u00a0then it is an opportunity lost. We have confidence that this is the right film.
\nWhat was it like working with debutant director\u00a0Ritesh Batra?<\/b>
\nI like Ritesh Batra\u2019s simplicity and his collaborative effort. He is very open to contributions, to what I had to say. The team he arranged was wonderful. He is a unique man who found a universal way of telling a story. Today, we have lost this craft of telling multi-layered stories. We watch single-layered cinema. We have narrowed our definition of what is commercial. We have lost diversity. Earlier there was content along with song and dance in films. There was Bimal Roy, there was Guru Dutt, there was Pakeezah<\/em>. There was Guide<\/em>, a story about the freedom of spirit, of body, freedom from conventional relationships. It\u2019s a film that never dates and even the lyrics of its songs were fantastic. Now commercial cinema are fluffy timepass.
\nWhy\u00a0do you think\u00a0The Lunchbox<\/em> performed so well at Cannes this year?<\/b>
\nThe appeal lies in the feeling of romance, the simplicity of the storytelling. The silences in the film are far more powerful, which is something very difficult to achieve. Also,\u00a0the silences work without any emphasis on them.
\nHow do you see the past few years of Indian cinema, in terms of non-mainstream films?<\/b>
\nI think the signs of good, creative non-mainstream cinema started emerging five years back. They have really manifested themselves in the past year. The audience is watching good cinema. They are becoming mature and demanding good stories. They want to see engaging cinema. But we can\u2019t just call it independent cinema or compare it to the parallel cinema of the \u201970s and the \u201980s. These current movies are also commercial, they do make money. That cinema was patronised by the government, there was no responsibility for profit. That isn\u2019t possible today. You have to engage the audience. All these new directors \u2013 Shoojit Sircar, Dibakar Banerjee, Tigmanshu Dhulia\u00a0\u2013\u00a0come\u00a0with that point of view in mind. They understand that cinema is a commercial art.
\nDo you think that going for international festivals gives these films a legitimacy that helps them get\u00a0released in India?<\/b>
\nThat is a way out for these films\u00a0that\u00a0have no marketing budget. It is a route many take. But it\u2019s not always helpful. Films have to have their own merit. Even if they do well outside they might not become popular in India. In the name of art, some people might get indulgent. Some directors will try to tell the audience they are intelligent. Messages in a movie have to be brought in carefully, films can\u2019t be didactic. We haven\u2019t cracked that style of storytelling where we can talk about bigger themes and still engage the audience. That\u2019s something international directors can do. Even a James Bond film, or these superhero franchise films such as Superman <\/em>or Spiderman<\/em>, they can pick up larger themes and still make entertaining movies around them.
\naradhna@tehelka.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ritesh Batra\u2019s debut film, The Lunchbox, opens in India after triumph at Cannes. Is Indian indie about to enter a golden age, asks Aradhna Wal <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":190882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21],"tags":[7650,7651,7051,7652,7275,3519,7653,7654,71,3725,7655,7656,7657,7658,7659],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190867"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}