Vipul Shah and Vivek Agnihotri
Hindi cinema has become politicised. And it should be. If it is not politicized then I will be worried. Everything is political here. Religion is politicised. Sports has become politicised. Business has become politicised. Journalism has become politicised. Not every part of life has been politicized in the history of mankind! It’s just that these days the entire focus is on Bollywood.
Politics is already there in the film industry
Amitabh Bachchan was from Congress, Dharmendra was from BJP, Javed Akhtar was from Communist Party of India, Amjad Khan was from Communist Party, and Ramesh Sippy was completely capitalist. All these people together made the film ‘cinder’ made. Whenever any political issue arose, the people of Bollywood always took out rallies. Sunil Dutt traveled from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi is now imitating him.
When Yusuf Sahab changes his name to Dilip Kumar, it looks 100% political because you are using a name just to reach out to the masses. You are looking at the audience in terms of religion or acceptance. That’s why this question has always been political. What ‘Wall’ Wasn’t it a political film? It was about trade union.
We have always made political films. Of course, I am very proud that we made wonderful political films before the year 2000. But after that it decreased a lot. Today’s political films should be related to current politics.
Role of films in changing perception
Having socio-political stories in films is a good thing. I think 75-80 percent of films should focus on socio-political issues. Nothing can be a more powerful and effective medium than cinema to entertain as well as change perceptions or bring forth a new side of an earlier story. 3 Idiots Has done it very beautifully. It was about the politics of the education system.
When it comes to banning something, every political party wants to ban it at their state or national level. The experience of our country shows that whenever anything was banned here, it became a topic of discussion among the elite, intellectuals of the society, and English newspapers. But the general public does not seem to care about it.
Bollywood also takes advantage of politicians. If he stops doing this, politicians will not be able to take advantage of Bollywood. They will not be able to give anything to the politicians. This is a very old custom. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi used to advocate some such films which were close to their ideology.
the men on the two boats are hypocrites
We are working in a system where there are the oppressed and the oppressors. Here people have colluded with politicians, industrialists and religious people and are trying to divide the society. And those who are trying to board two boats are proving that they are hypocrites. But the winds of change are coming. People are realizing that you are not what you speak. If people feel that you are very hard working and honest in your work, then you will get credibility, love and respect from the audience.
Producers want the old game to stop
Bollywood believes that the audience is stupid. They will come to the theaters only because of the publicity. Crores of rupees are spent on marketing. There is no account of this. Everything is written here. It is very difficult for the middle class to avoid such propaganda.
This is a dirty game. It will stop the day a producer, director or filmmaker says that we are firm, we have full faith in our film. One should have that much courage. I ‘Buddha in a Traffic Jam’ Made in 2010 and released in 2016. Everyone knows why it was stopped, by whom it was stopped. But I said that if it is released then only in theatres.
Film makers are away from today’s audience
Film makers have lost touch with their audience. They live in their own world. The era has moved on. A child who was 12 years old a few years back is 16 years old today. In these four years, that child has seen lockdown in the world. He is no longer a typical teenager but more mature than before. He is developing his preferences. And its like- please don’t fool us. First gain credibility, then come and tell me your story.
Human beings are now prepared to watch more realistic stories instead of fantasy. And for this crores of expenditure is needed on publicity.
Zamindari system should end in Bollywood
The old system should be changed. When new technology, new ideas come, there is disruption. I remember when I was working for advertising, The Times of India decided to have different colored pages than the Delhi Times or something like that. Then all the print media houses had said that they are bringing division in the industry just because they have money.
Similarly, when electric cars came along, Ford and General Motors said they were splitting the industry. i am very glad that the tashkent files and now The Kashmir Files And the vaccine war Belongs to that new Indian cinema, which is like a new alternative in front of a typical zamindari-system Bollywood system.
i was unnecessarily targeted
Many people write against me. I may have upset some people. I may have put some obstacles too. But to be honest, we have found our audience and I am honestly making my films. But they want me to remain average for the audience like them.
The elite club spreads rumors about you and creates a false image of you. It has been run as a very organized, systematic campaign. Money is spent to create the image of stars, then the same people spend money to destroy the images of others.
Recently we have seen such mercenaries from Pakistan trolling me, threatening me, abusing our family, and harassing my daughter. Who’s afraid of me? I am a small and independent filmmaker. Let there be room for me along with you.
I do not believe that my audience is stupid. I am not doing mindless comedy. I am not saying put your mind behind. I am not saying this is masala entertainment. I am making very different kind of films for different kind of people. So there is no competition between me and Bollywood.
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