“Films grow old. So do we. But classics never lose their sheen. They remain eternally magnetic in their appeal. The more we age, the more lip-smacking cream we discover from the layers of a masterpiece. Be it a movie, a musical composition, a work of art, or a literary gem — a stalwart is known by his signature repertoire that he leaves behind,” says filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar.
Films like Vaastav, Astitva, Viruddh, Kurukshetra, Tera Mera Saath Rahen, Nidaan, Jis Desh Main Ganga Rahta Hai, Praan Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye ring a bell of issue-based, socially relevant themes and serious filmmaking in our minds.
Content with his careergraph so far and the kind of films he has made, Manjrekar feels that sensitive subjects like Tera Mera Saath Rahen, revolving around mental or physical disability, actually released much ahead of its times. “If today, had I portrayed the same challenging plight, I would have definitely found a niche audience in the industry. With the ingress of multiplex movies’ trend, the realistic genre has obtained a firm footing at the box-office. Today, even an AIDS-addressing flicks or films based on alternate sexuality and harmful addictions or illicit rackets have become a commercially viable prospect for bigtime producers and investors. Navigating the life-endangering ‘acquired immuno deficiency’ syndrome and the sufferings of an HIV positive victim, the film Nidaan failed to lure in the audience. So, the scenario was that bleak a few years back,” he says.
Confirming Sanjay Dutt as one of his favourite actors, Manjrekar admits to be in a dilemma to cast him in his films. “Actually, I’m waiting for an apt script that would fit him to the tee. It’s not that everyday, you carve a milestone like Vaastav out of nothing,” he says.
Searching for ideas and pegs to translate them into definitive screen sagas, Manjrekar prefers to peep into the backyard of home-made Indian cinema. “From the cauldron of regional cinema, you can comfortably pick and choose themes and easily elaborate on a matrix of diverse storylines. Great cinematic maestros like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Hrishikesh Mukherjee — all had a different perspective of viewing the movie marquee. They were the leading visionaries of Indian celluloid, wherein they unanimously tried to establish the image of real India, whether staying within the frame of commercial parameters or outside it as arthouse architects. Like Ray, who made it big even miles away on the international plane, winning the Academy Award with his creations scripted in Bengali, today’s big names, like Mani Ratnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Amol Palekar, too lodge their best when they take recourse to their mother tongue on celluloid. Their timeless classics are a testament to this propensity of sticking to their roots. Ratnam, for instance, finds his true elements in his association with the Tamil cinema,” he says.
With the core audience still hungry for meaningful cinema, substantial characters and author-backed scripts, it’s time for the dream merchants to cultivate and spade out more such jewels from the soil of regional indigenous cinema. “There lies the soul of India — in its ethnic values, mixed social fabric and variegated cultures. It’s an exciting kaleidoscope. One has to match the hues with his local folklores, customs, dictions and dialects. Marathi cinema does lend me endless opportunities to explore the untold facets of life, bursting at the seams. And I promise to go the whole hog in hunting heart-tugging human interest stories laced with universal emotions,” he says.
Having played a part in the eight-Oscar toaster Slumdog Millionaire, Manjrekar rallies behind his home-grown talent and ups it above the superhighway of Hollywood productions. “We always give the Hollywood hype and hoopla an extra edge. But am not in awe of Hollywood, albeit having acted in the record-breaking Slumdog blockbuster. I’ve enjoyed the experience thoroughly no doubt, but on the weighing scale-pans if you try and judge the manner in which the dirty underbelly of the Mumbai slums has been shot, exposed and represented, I feel we have always done a zillion times better job than our offshore counterparts,” he says.
His assertion gets reflected through Dharavi, Salaam Bombay, Ankush, et al as these titles are permanently etched out in our memory. “There are no boundaries for human emotions. It transcends all geographical border-fences and demographical divisions. So a can of films, be it emerging from the cradle of India or Iran like Majid Majidi’s or Jafar Panahi’s august arsenals, will invariably appeal to any given cinephile residing in any part of the global map. The Asian cine-market is certainly making a mark and hitting high notes in the western sky. In a nutshell, our own films will contend with one another instead of vying for a top slot on foreign, alien charts,” he opines.
Besides pitching in with social-centric and relationships-oriented movies which are further driven with message-conveying concepts, Manjrekar confesses to find a liking for love tales and rip-roaring comedies too. “Currently, there’s an out-and-out comic endeavour on the floor. And plans are also afoot to remake last year’s Marathi mega-hit movie Mi Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoy in Bengali. The project will roll on from this year only. Who would have thought only a few moons ago that there will be a commercial entertainer featuring only SRK and a bevy of plane Jane sporting girls sans a glam heroine to speak of. The film in question is Chak de India that left its distributors laughing all the way to the bank. Also that cerebral actor Aamir Khan would appear after the interval in his movie only to play a Pied Piper of sorts and draw not only the kids of every town but also their teachers and parents in droves to the cinema halls like that old legendary magical myth of Hamelin, who could have imagined even that! But Taare Zameen Par had made this possible. Even a film like A Wednesday could set the cash registers ringing. 3-Idiots, with its wonderful treatment and packaging took the audience by surprise, inspite of not being a departure from the commercial diameter of Bollywood and the recently released digital flick LSD just jolted the viewers out of the blue. Some exceptions do topsy-turvy the yardsticks of every rulebook,” he says.
Fresh from the release of his latest critically acclaimed directorial venture City of Gold, Manjrekar comments that reel-space can certainly resurrect real-life incidents, day-to-day events and a flurry of plaguing, burning issues which affect and haunt our lives from time to time. Based on the 1982 Mumbai textile-mill strike, where a deluge of 150,000 workers was rendered jobless overnight, following a massive closedown of 80 such mills, the City of Gold is garnering appreciation from all over. “I’ve tried to delve deeply into the human element of the film and not the political aspect of it. Even the Bhopal Gas tragedy can be revisited on the 70 mm, if a heart-rending story is built around this biggest industrial disaster in Indian history,” he says.