Runaway hit

THE recent Hindi film "Lagaan" may have been made a little earlier if its director had opted for a violent climax. Ashutosh Gowarikar, writer and director of "Lagaan", was initially turned down by various producers and financiers. Perhaps his quaint tale about a non-violent triumph over oppression and humiliation, seemed too far from the set formula of commercial cinema. One producer was willing to take on the project provided Gowarikar changed the story to kill the bad guy in the end.

However, Gowarikar stuck to his convictions and the result is a rather Gandhian film that has become a run-away hit. This has reinforced a familiar truth - that the audience of popular films is not as blood-thirsty as many film-producers would like to believe. But even more importantly, "Lagaan" is an example of how defiant and patient creativity can work wonders. For such determination sometimes breaks down stereotypical notions of what is possible and what people want.

Gowarikar is part of a new generation of writers and film-makers who are attempting to expand the range and depth of truly commercial films. That is, films intended to draw millions of viewers across the country for several months. This is quite different from the parallel stream of off-beat films which, even if they get a commercial release, are satisfied with a relatively select audience.

The mainstream Hindi film industry is world-famous as a mass production factory churning out tediously repetitive films. The overwhelming majority of films are variations of the same story. Inevitably this involves frothy romance, true love thwarted by misguided parents or some simplistic form of evil which in the end is conquered by the good guys. Mingled into all this are what one producer once called eternal themes - filial loyalty, family honour, sacrificing friends, love of Mother India and so on.

Over the last two decades this set formula was sought to be embellished by the arrival of the angry young man. This stereotype was virtually created for Amitabh Bachchan who played it to the hilt, over and over again, for almost 20 years. This period was packed with films about victim-like heroes filled with bitter, mindless rage against corrupt politicians, vile Mafia dons and assorted other evil doers. Almost without exception these films depicted individual vengeance-seeking as virtually the only answer to social injustice.

"Lagaan", produced by the actor Aamir Khan, marks a dramatic departure from the boredom of this fixed formula and its dead-end social message. Yet it is also a classic Bollywood formula film - packed with romance, clan loyalty, an oppressed people's struggle for dignity - set to ample song, dance and suspense amid attractive locales. So where's the difference and why does it matter?

Firstly, there is the relief of seeing a hero who defies his oppressor by building on his own creatively buoyant spirit and uniting others in a joint mission. Secondly, the oppressive bad guy is presented both as representative of an unjust system and also a psychologically troubled individual. It follows that the contest between the oppressed villagers in the story and the oppressive British rulers is not portrayed as a black and white story but marked by subtle grey tones.

"Lagaan" is located in, the Bollywood version of, a peasant village which is threatened by a severe drought and the burden of double taxation, lagaan, imposed by the British. It is the story of one man's defiant courage in taking up the dare thrown his way by the local British officer. If the villagers can defeat the British officers in a game of cricket , they will be exempted from paying lagaan for three years.

Just how did Gowarikar arrive at, or stumble upon, the idea of cricket as the arena of a struggle against colonial oppression? Interestingly enough, the unusual tale emerged out of a process of elimination. Gowarikar's two earlier directorial ventures had faithfully followed the fixed formula and failed miserably. After this he was feeling rebellious against the run of the mill story of the safe film, says Gowarikar. So he decided to make a film to his own liking but one which would also appeal to people all over India.

He set about looking for a story idea that involved multiple protagonists and showed the triumph of the human spirit in some larger sense. He was also wary and tired of all the standard contemporary bad guy characters - the corrupt police officer, politician, Mafia don. Thus Gowarikar did a round of what he calls R and D, research and development, in late 19th Century British India. What, he asked himself, were the British doing in India apart from ruling? The answer he found was - hunting and cricket.

The story of "Lagaan" was then forged, out of these ingredients, in a fairy-tale mode. Most of its social messages are part of a long tradition of political correctness that dates back to the earliest days of Bombay films. For instance, various ways of depicting strong community bonds between Hindus and Muslims. There is also an emphatic stand against untouchability and caste- based prejudice. The star bowler of the village's cricket team, in "Lagaan", is a handicapped Dalit youth.

Yet "Lagaan" stands out, in the present context, primarily because it manages to convey in subtle ways how oppressors inevitably wind up doing as much damage to themselves as to their victims. This is possible because the Britishers are depicted in many different shades of good and bad.

Gowarikar is aware that some people may feel that his depiction of the British is too favourable and overlooks their gross misdeeds. But, he points out, this is not a historical film about the freedom struggle. This is the tale of an archetypal struggle for dignity which seeks to depict the pain and joy of those who, in every age, stand up for justice and fairplay. Again there is nothing very original here but these are values that appear to be in need of reinforcement.

Popular commercial films do exercise some influence in shaping public perception and opinion. This lends considerable importance to politically progressive film-makers and writers who have something to say and are able to work within the so-called constraints of the box office.

Anjum Rajabali, one of the new generation of writers in Hindi cinema, argues that the constraints of the box-office are actually quite expandable. For example, conventional box-office wisdom would have demanded that Gowarikar add heavy dozes of jingoistic nationalism to "Lagaan". Yet Gowarikar stuck faithfully to the archetypal style, did not inject any crude mera Bharat mahaan imagery, and still made it at the box-office. This shows, says Rajabali, that people are hungry for good stories that are told well. Films do not succeed or fail because of any fixed formula ingredient.

Thus even one such film makes a difference because it immediately expands the limits of the possible. True that some will respond to this with trite facsimile type efforts. But there are always those whose imagination flowers in this expanded space. Such film-makers could give us films that reach the millions with stories, values and ideas that lend light to our present and future.

RAJNI BAKSHI

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