The rise and rise of regional cinema

The Lockdown was a catalyst that ensured that I could spend a lot of time watching cinema of the world and also a lot of regional cinema which has been generating a lot of good content in the last couple of years. Marathi, Malayalam, and Tamil cinema has been steadily gaining a certain kind of reverie amongst aficionados who are looking for good cinema. Being a Bengali myself I have been exposed to Bengal cinema since the time I was introduced to it by Ma. So, that also gave me an added advantage. 

I remember in my growing up years I use to often be on toes with my mother getting across to some of the cinema halls in Banaras which had the morning show, casting some of the most amazing Hollywood releases, like Ben Hur, Where Eagles Dare, Ten Commandants, Lust for Life, to name a few. There were many I saw but as a 4-5 year kid they were hazy images to me. But, Ben Hur I vividly remember because of the Chariot Race. Later, I remember my parents went for a morning screen of European Cinema and much later Cinema of the World to the BHU campus, film screenings. They were blurred images to me but I still remember that the adults talking animatedly and ferociously on the content. That amazed me, since I did not understand a word of what was playing. But, somehow it felt good and there were other children too, to play with. 

Later, as I was growing up and started understanding bit by bit, it all began getting clearer to me what the Cinema of the world was and it was so different from the usual fare that was being dished out from Hindi cinema or from Hollywood. However, one silver lining was the rise and rise of regional cinema in India. If you have a chance to see this trend, the 80's and the first half of 90's saw Television and good content. And this was the time Hindi Cinema was at it's rock bottom. After, a few people (Mahesh Bhatt et al) decided to take things in their hands, cinema started improving. Around this time television in the later part of 90's and early 2000 saw entry of Saas Bahu genre and finishing of television completely. Now add the news channel (which is nothing short of voyeur at its best) to it, and television today is writing obit for itself. But, if one looks at cinema of the last few years there is a transformation to some extent.  

Cinema is finding resurgence in the regional cinema of the country. Especially, the Marathi, Malayalam and Tamil cinema are finding new grounds. Cinema with simple plots and storyline. Focusing on the characters and the message. Take for instance, Vetrimaaran's classic Visaranai. It is brutal, harsh and in your face. The plot does not take time to build and in about 20 minutes into the film you are straight into the violence of the film. Yet, for the next hour and half it all seems so difficult to absorb the proceedings without feeling disturbed and troubled. The violence is poetic and is justified to the cause. It is a must see for a film buff. Sairat (directed by Nagraj Manjule) already a cult following amongst masses and the best part of the film has been the last 15 minutes of it. Shot simplistically, with a brilliant cast it is definitive movie in Marathi cinema. There is Killa, another fantastic film shot by Avinash Arun. It captures the beauty of the relationships so well and transcends you to a world which is so near to us but have never come to appreciate it. Malayalam cinema perhaps has the best of the treat and there is no one movie to pin point. But, it has been having a roll since the time Traffic released in 2011. 

The Lockdown provided ample opportunities to feast on a deluge of good regional cinema. And obviously steer clear of the trash that Hindi cinema released or is releasing. Infact, right now Hindi cinema has been in a catharsis of idea and it shows. In an interview of Tigmanshu Dhulia, (I think this was in Scoop Whoop unscripted or perhaps on the Slow Interview with Neelesh Mishra) he says that the number of biopics being made in Hindi Cinema shows that there is a serious crisis of idea. It is a good time for regional cinema and the kind of ideas they are working on. There are new age directors and there are new age ideas they are experimenting with. A film like Super Delux is amazing therefore and more so because it experiments with the form and narration. Yet, it is simplistic in the message it gives out. 

For a start, Super Delux is on Netflix. Go watch.