Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Making the crossover
|
Anurag Mehta's debut feature `American Chai' which is coming soon to a theatre near you, is a romantic comedy dealing with the hassles of a cross-cultural generation gap. Indian directors should look beyond the coming of age film to break through into the mainstream, writes MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER
|
CUP THAT CHEERS: `American Chai' is the latest in the long line of crossover features.
THERE SEEMS to be an unwritten rule that Indian filmmakers should make their debut with a khatti meethi growing up Bildungsroman. The main protagonist starts off either as this totally screwed up second generation NRI not knowing anything about Indian culture and the rest of it and realising the weight of tradition with the help of a pretty girl, a couple of R.D. Burman hits and dandiya.
The other kind of growing up would be this yokel who comes to America from the boondocks and sees everything American with goo-goo eyes. By the end of the film he becomes super cool and also manages to teach the heathen a thing or two about - you got it--our three thousand year-old culture.
FIRST KNIGHT: M. Night Shyamalan broke through the mainstream with his debut.
While the argument for this would be that one works with material one knows best, it does not say much for imagination and creativity. This is not to say the films are bad - Piyush Pandya's debut feature American Desi was good but it had the feel of a successful audition - he has gotten his "debut" feature out of system and could concentrate on other stuff.
The latest is Anurag Mehta's American Chai. Mehta says the title is inspired by the phrase American pie meaning a slice of American life. Mehta's brother, actor-musician Aalok Mehta, plays the protagonist Sureel, a first generation college student who wants to be a musician and not a doctor (like his parents want him to be).
Casting for the movie included Paresh Rawal as Sureel's father. Rawal according to Mehta was "was particularly fascinated by the walkie-talkies the crew would carry around. He'd say, `in India there is none of this walkie-talkie business. Everyone just yells."
The film was completed in January 2001 and has since won laurels on the festival circuit including the audience award at the Slamdance festival, the Audience Award at the Gen Art
STUNNING AND BIZARRE: Tarasem Singh stunned the world visual pyrotechnics in `The Cell.'
Film Festival in New York City and the Best Feature and Technical Achievement Awards at the Philadelphia Festival of Independents.
Mehta, who worked in James Cameron's unit on True Lies, has sold screenplays to independent production companies. And now with the coming of age debut out of his system, we can look forward to some genre defying stuff from Mehta. He can travel on the road taken by M. Night Shyamalan, the son of super rich Indian doctors who decided that he wanted to make movies rather than become a doctor. His The Sixth Sense had the cash registers ringing and Academy Award nominations. The film introduced a whole new way of looking at horror films and also gave the world a phenomenally talented little thespian - Haley Joel Osment.
Mehta could also follow the mind-altering pageantry of Tarsem Singh's debut The Cell where Singh acknowledges his Bollywood roots with brilliant eye-popping visuals and sound. But mainly he should follow his heart as what makes a creative work come off is honesty.
Armour of God is so unabashedly Hong Kong martial arts and is thoroughly enjoyable. The day films coming from India shed their defensiveness and go ahead and just be themselves will be the day they break into the mainstream. And we can look towards the brave new breed of Indian filmmakers to make that crossover.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
