2015: Indian cinema will see another golden era

The Delhi winter with its punishment and reward extremes of the biting cold and a tender sun is reminiscent of independent film-making in India.

There was a time when Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Hrishikesh Mukehrjee and many others made films without being enclosed within brackets like independent, mainstream and alternative. Their films were popular, cinematic and even dealt with social issues. And as 2014 slips into 2015 it seems to me that there is good news on the horizon for all those who dream of this era returning and here's why.

The story starts at the turn of the century. The drawbridges fell open on the isolated castles of Bollywood. And as the armies of foreign media rushed in bringing with it new sensibilities and the tiny possibility of fresh film markets dawned. As the L'Oreal girls sailed down the Cannes red carpet some Indian cinema tentatively followed. Still the Bollywood trade pundits presumed the audience wanted only "entertainment". And these independent films never found any place in either the theatres or the minds of mainstream films producers. Internationally too, Indian films were painted with the same Bollwood brush and so it was hard to convince them of the fact that there is another India cinema language. And so well begun was not half done as independent filmmakers continued hanging by the thin thread of private benefactors who supported these films.

Naturally few independent films were made during this time. It was in the later part of this decade that I made my feature film debut with a mainline Hindi film. Then I was convinced like many other filmmakers that making anything except a mainstream film was asking for trouble.

Seven months ago I finished my second feature film - Kajarya. This time I chose the independent, true and real route. It was a harder route to raise financing based purely for conviction with no apparent commercial sense. Not wanting to cast known actors meant that many options were cancelled out. More often than not I could see the "she's crazy" thought going through people's minds as talked about making this film. And still I pushed on driven by my deep gut feeling that I was doing the right thing. For years after my first feature I was standing on the set of Kajarya. It may have been a hard struggle but I knew then I was standing in exactly the place I was supposed to be. Its positive reception has been overwhelming.

The success of an independent film like this one is due to the fact that in the last four or five years there has been a surge of good, solid, independent cinema in India. Udaan, Anney Ghore Da Daan, Gandu, Lucia, and more recently Fandry and The Lunchbox - films like these have been making a dent for Indian Indies worldwide. And these were made by new directors and are in various Indian languages. Many of them have seen commercial theatrical release both here and internationally.

With digital edging out celluloid, not only did cheaper technology support the return of independence but now the world markets seem more within reach. In an encouraging trend, financiers, agents, film festivals are now interested. This because now the volume of new good quality Indian cinema is on the rise. And as independent cinema reaches a critical mass in India it is demanding attention and respect.

However, quite predictably, the Bollywood machinery is resistant to this new wave of indie cinema. They have no idea of how to tame this new animal and cage it where they have confined themselves for the last four or five decades. Annoyingly, independent filmmakers find themselves confronted with this mindset at the time that they want to release their films. They have discovered that no matter how good their film is -  Kiran Rao (Ship of Theseus) , Karan Johar (The Lunchbox) or at least Anurag Kashyap still need to think it is so before the lemming machinery will get behind it. The other independent films that released without bhaigiri of Bollywood supporting like Ankhon Dekhi and Lakshmi were beaten by the machinery.

This is the machinery that decides what show timings a film gets at the theatres, what news is worthy of the front pages of newspaper supplements (even if you pay for it) and finally which trade and industry people will tweet about the film telling you "it's the best of the year". Yes - that's right they think the audience is stupid. Except that it is not.

The last year has been dismal for Bollywood, they tried everything from imitation (Highway), south remakes (too many to list here), big star films (too many to list here) and they all met a lukewarm fate at the box office. Sometimes despite the raving of reviewers, few were fooled. In the end, film-making is about living life and more than ever before audiences are looking for honesty in films. Mumbai filmmakers have self-goaled themselves in this regard.

On the other hand, independent filmmakers have been chipping away at the block. Maybe I am in the "glass half-full" category but it seems that we are inching our way back to the time when cinema classification was determined only by its quality. The circle will be complete when online viewing increases in India and cinema programmers see through the publicity haze and start giving these films good show timings. As international sales increase money will be drawn to good quality films. And we will soon see the return of the auteur.

So here's to 2015 and the sequel to the golden era in Indian cinema, coming to a theatre near you after five decades. Better late than never, right?