Raazi has breathed fresh life into 'women-centric' cinema in Bollywood
Budgets don’t make films better.
In addition to establishing Alia Bhatt’s credentials as a bona fide star, the success of Raazi has also ushered in a new phase in the so-called woman-centric film in Hindi cinema. For a few years now, the mahila pradhaan theme or the one that Bollywood insiders refer to as the kind where the “heroine” is the “hero”, has been undergoing a transformation.
While the obvious change was the manner in which a saleable male name wasn’t required anymore to market a film such as Kahaani (2012), Queen (2013), Mary Kom (2014) or Neerja (2017), the bigger, and in some way a silent, change was the way the trade ceased to see these from the “women-centric” perspective. It is this transition from being niche even within the multiplex product category to a sound business proposition that would finally sound the death knell for the women-centric genre.
Better characters
Besides increasing the possibility of the women getting better-etched characters and not being subjected to supporting roles once they cross a certain age, films such as Raazi, Neerja and Tumhari Sulu have also made a much greater contribution to the film business in India. The popular Hindi film trade is largely driven by the notion that it’s the stars that attract the audiences and in order to make such “women-centric” films feasible, distributors would urge the producer to include a male star; hence, the presence of Shah Rukh Khan a la deus ex machina in Shakti: The Power (2002). In some cases, such a presence could also impact the budget, but even if the star were working for less, the narrative would be tinkered around to include him. As a result, the films with a female protagonist were relegated to the “hatke” category and the budgets suffered.
Despite all this, when films like Kahaani became successful at the box office, the sheer economics behind a film like that made the trade look at them in a new light. On a budget of approximately rupees eight crore, Kahaani’s net worldwide collection was nearly Rs 73 crore besides its satellite rights, which made about Rs 15 crore, or in other words, the profit on investment was a whopping 900 per cent!
Business model
Of course, Kahaani could be called an exception, but when compared to the regular big-budget films such as Singh Is Bling (2015), which made Rs 42 crore just on its opening weekend, the former is a better business model. Why? Well, Singh is Bling grossed nearly Rs 98 crore in India and is counted amongst the best openings that the film’s lead Akshay Kumar has ever experienced, but with a reported budget of Rs 91 crore, it can be called anything but a successful venture.
A few decades ago, leading ladies in the Hindi films would have to wait for years to get what could be termed as their “Mother India” moment — a film where they wouldn’t have to be props. Additionally, the bigger the success a heroine was at the box office, the rarer it became for her to land a half-decent role in a standard film.
Look at the way after Nagina (1986) and Mr India (1987) Sridevi found it extremely difficult to get to play characters that weren’t cardboard-cut-outs. For every single Chandni (1989) or Chaalbaaz (1989) or Lamhe (1991), she had to go through many forgettable films like Aulad (1987), Watan Ke Rakhwale (1987), Sherni (1988), Sone Pe Suhaaga (1988) and Pathar Ke Insan (1990). Even typical films where the role would offer some meat, for instance, say a Gair Kanooni (1989) or Laadla (1994) became fewer as the years passed.
Major credit
Raazi joins the recent slew of films where women got to play organic characters in films that weren’t treated as non-mainstream or art-house fare. The major part of the credit for this change goes to the audience. The viewer had rarely discriminated as much between male-centric or female-centric films as the trade would have made you believe, and now with the alternate streams of exhibiting such as online streaming, not only does the viewer have more choice but for the trade, too, the smaller films become much viable.
Who knows? The “women-centric” films might, finally, also inspire the leading men to take stock and larger-than-life filmmakers to understand that budgets don’t make films better.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)