The commercial success of “The Dirty Picture” gave new life to biopics. Bollywood has now lined up a slew of real people’s real stories, though filmmakers admit these are churned out with a splash of entertaining fiction.
“Paan Singh Tomar” closely followed “The Dirty Picture” and turned out to be a sleeper hit. Some upcoming biopics include “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, “Rang Rasiya”, “Shoot Out At Wadala”, “Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2″ and “Barfi”.
But filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt told IANS: “Any biopic can't be a pure biopic because one tends so as to add the entertainment quotient to the film to create space for commercial zone.It is less complicated to mention that you're creating a biopic than to really make a biopic.
“Many of them claim it to be a biopic and use it for the publicity. There's a lot of pain that goes into the research of the nature and to do justice to the main points of a person’s journey. Simply by claiming so, it doesn’t become a biopic. You utilize a selected person, icon as a peg to launch your product,” he said.
Usually Hollywood starts a trend and Bollywood follows. Hindi films, however, resisted biopics for a very long time. However the success of “The Dirty Picture”, in regards to the lifetime of southern sex icon Silk Smitha, appeared to alter the mindset.
Milan Luthria, director of “The Dirty Picture”, starring Vidya Balan, feels there aren't any pure biopics.
“When my film did well, it gave more courage to others that biopics have the ability to hit the economic zone. Such a lot of real life stories are there, but they don't seem to be pure biopics as entertainment is added to facts. Whilst you opt for a pure biopic, then it could get just a little boring,” Luthria told IANS.
Making biopics is challenging because the stories are separated from history to suit into specific requirements of showbiz.
However, director Ketan Mehta feels again and again fact is more astonishing than fiction. “In many cases fact is stranger than the fiction. Real life is more astonishing than a fictional story. One of the vital biopics or their story could be very fascinating,” he told IANS.
Mehta has wielded the megaphone for biopics like “Sardar”, at the country’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel; “Mangal Pandey: The Rising”, which told the tale of 1 of the important thing leaders of 1857 Sepoy Mutiny; and his much delayed “Rang Rasiya”, in keeping with the lifetime of 19th century painter Raja Ravi Varma.
Translating the actual life story on celluloid requires numerous research.
“I take in subjects that inspire me. MUCH MORE research goes into creating a period film where you don’t have enough records or much evidence,” Mehta told IANS.
“Unfortunately, India has not started the fad of biopics yet. If it happens within the near future, then it's wonderful,” he added.
Luthria feels “in Hollywood, that is an old trend and so they was engaged on it for an extended time”.
Sometimes filmmakers are dragged into legal trouble too.
“It is determined by what the family feels about it? What are the terms and stipulations agreed upon between them? There are lots of such things to be cleared,” Ram Gopal Varma told IANS. He had made “Rakta Charitra”, a bilingual film on slain Andhra Pradesh politician Paritala Ravindra.
“Many a time a director initially claims it to be a biopic and later says it's been inspired by a specific person. It happens for the reason that formalities don't seem to be completed. You get excited when the maker or the director says it's in line with someone. But if suddenly problems crop up, they may change the story,” Verma added.
Bhatt said, “When you might be exploring the human side to inform an untold story, one might get into trouble. Every now and then the person’s members of the family is probably not pleased with how you are portraying a character.”
He described his production venture “Woh Lamhe” as a last goodbye to the memories of actress Parveen Babi, whom he loved and lost.
The biopic virus is spreading so fast that when Vidya Balan and Irrfan Khan, even Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is probably going to play hockey legend Dhyan Chand. – IANS
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