100 years of Indian cinema: An interview with Bollywood's Anurag Basu

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From Decembe r 4 to 7, 2012, WIPO hoste d a Festival of

Indian Film i n celebrat ion of 100 years of I ndian lm-

making. The r elease of the black-and-w hite silent movie,

Raja Harishchandra, in Ma y 1913 marked th e beginning

of the count ry’s indig enous lm ind ustry. Si nce then,

India has be come the world ’s largest pro ducer of fea-

ture lms, w ith over 1,200 releases a y ear in more than

25 languag es. The ve lms scree ned during the Fes tival

– Raja Harishchandra, B ar!, Zindagi Na Mi legi Dobara,

36 Chowringhee Lane and 3 Idi ots – offered a glimp se of

the divers ity, depth and dist inctiveness of In dian cinema.

Ahead of the o pening of the Film Fes tival, a rst for WIPO,

Anurag Bas u, the write r and direct or of Bar! – on e of

the highes t-gross ing lms in India in 2012 – shar ed his

views about In dia’s thriving lm ind ustry and disc ussed

the strengths of Indian lmmaking, the major challenges

the indus try faces a nd his most rec ent lm.

How did you get into the film i ndustry?

It was in the early 1990s, when I went to Univers ity in Mumbai,

that I decided to follow my dream. I always had a hidd en desire

to be part of the Indian lm industr y. Hidden because my family

thought people from good families didn’t go to Indian cinema.

It was socially looked down upon. Bu t I wanted to be on a

lm set, so I lied to my parents, went to an audition and got a

small acting role in a typical singing and dancing Bollywood

production. I soon realized it is n ot as glamorous as it looks,

and decided I neede d a “plan B” in case things didn’t work out,

so I nished my physics studie s. But, fortunately, things did

work out for me. I have produced seven movie s and written

and directed many TV se ries and commercial s.

How would you characterize In dia’s cinema

journey?

Cinema has become an i ntegral part of Indian cultu re; it ac-

tually binds the countr y together. When you watch a lm at

the cinema you don’t see the religion, cas t or culture of the

person beside you. People sit together and laugh, cry and

enjoy. Indian cinema binds them together. That is one of its

greatest achievements.

The industry has had i ts ups and downs, but Indian cinema of-

fers a different kin d of entertainment. Though still looked down

upon by some, it has its own distinctive cha racter. Bollywood

lms are a mish-mash genre, a mix of ever ything. They of fer

wholesome entertainment, plain and simple.

We have been unaffected by the domin ance of Hollywood, un-

like other cinema industries. We are n’t threatened by Hollywood

and don’t look at its calendar before re leasing our movies.

That is the plus side. At present we are cater ing to the Indian

diaspora and, beyond that, we are not well known b ut want to

be recognized more widely b ecause we know we are talented.

There is a ray of hope. This year, Indian lmmakers pro duced

different kinds of lm s. Bar!’s box ofce success s uggests

things are changing. I’m not saying that Bar ! is completely

different from Boll ywood, but it’s a step in a new direction

and has given me the courage to make a lm n ext year that

has global appeal. We have to be in the system to change it.

In recent years all India n lm genres have done well, and our

lms are increasingly re spected at international lm festi vals.

What chal lenges do Indian filmm akers face?

Making a lm in India is tough. Ever y 200 kilometers the lan-

guage and culture change s, so you have to make a lm for

different cultures i nside your own country.

Being a lm producer or dire ctor in India is like being a stray

dog crossing a busy highway. We can get run over at any time.

There are so many risks but pi racy is the biggest challe nge,

because most Indians d on’t understand th at it is a crime. The

day after you release your lm in the th eatres, pirated copies

are available on the market. Piracy af fects us a lot and we

have to stop it.

The industry lose s around INR 18,000 crores (approx.

US$3.34 billion) and some 60,000 job s every year because of

piracy. It’s a huge thing. We remain a ourishing industry, but

imagine the business movies would do without piracy.

What steps n eed to be taken to tackle piracy?

People need to understand that pi racy is a crime. The gov-

ernment is making pro gress. It has closed down a lot of

downloading channels a nd all but eliminated pirated CDs in

Mumbai where I live.

I think we can kill piracy by relea sing the DVD versions of our

lms a week or so after their th eatrical release. The cu rrent

practice of waiting three or four months be fore releasing them

makes no sense. By releasing the m ovies to paid satellite

channels, we can be sure to earn s ome money and reduce

losses from piracy. Piracy is working bec ause people can

100 years of

INDIAN CINEMA:

an interview with Bollywood’s Anurag Basu