Catch ’em young, say filmmakers

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A still from Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana

As Bollywood is becoming more diverse in content and its basic approach towards cinema, director Anurag Kashyap feels thankful to the audience that is giving filmmakers the courage to think differently.

At a recent event, Kashyap said that the audience under 30 has matured but the same cannot be said about those over 30. “The younger lot is far more mature because they have access to world cinema. And today, if I am allowed to make films, it is because of that younger audience,” says the director, whose last film franchise Gangs of Wasseypur proved a success at the box office.
However, with “`100 crores” fast becoming the new yardstick for success in Bollywood, is it enough to reach only one section of the audience?
Director Shakun Batra, of Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu fame, says, “A filmmaker should always make the kind of films he’d like to see. Being below 30 myself, I belong to that section of the audience. So my cinema will obviously reflect that.” But Shakun also feels that the industry has different kinds of directors and each type has its dedicated audience. “Fortunately for us, films such as Barfi and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, that are not formula entertainers, have managed to reach the magic figure. Even Kahaani did great business. I think the trick is to make a good film because that alone transcends age limits,” he adds.
Ekta Kapoor feels it’s wise to have a definite target audience in mind while making a film. She says, “Earlier the audience was broadly divided between the classes and masses, but today it is segregated by age. The Dirty Picture was made for a certain section of the audience and I didn’t expect those over 40 to appreciate a bold story like that. But as far as the youth is concerned, they crave for different genres — being innovative is the name of the game.”
As far as the yardstick of “`100 crores” is concerned, it’s not something director Milan Luthria agrees with. He says, “I completely detest the `100 crore bracket. People should get over this obsession because different films work on different budgets. It doesn’t matter whether you make a film with `5 crores or `50 crores — the goal is to make profit.”