Small budget movies making big impact

Bollywood is going all out with its low-in-budget-and-big-inimpact films. After Dibakar Banerjee’s “Love Sex aur Dhokha” made a splash in 2010, making a mark last year were “Shor in the City”, “I Am”, “Yeh Saali Zindagi”, “Tanu Weds Manu”, “Shaitan”, “That Girl in Yellow Boots”, “Dhobi Ghat”, “Delhi Belly”, “Stanley Ka Dabba” — the list goes on and on.
With smart content and snazzy packaging, small-budget films have set cash boxes ringing and trade gurus talking. The scene is no different in Tollywood. With “Icche” rewriting the sucess story at the box office, “Chaplin” and “Rang Milanti” winning critical acclaim, a lot of filmmakers are encouraged to tread the same path. What’s more, even big production houses are investing in offbeat films that are not hard on the pockets but high on content.
“Icche”, which was made on a budget of 45 lakh in 2008, has garnered 2.75 crore after its release in 2011 from satellite, home video and abroad apart from theatrical release. “This proves that the story and the story alone can hold a film. It doesn’t matter who is starring in it. Earlier, producers would insist on star value. They would inevitably say, ‘Er toh box (office) nei”. But now all that is passe. In fact, if there’s wrong casting, it might act as a boomerang,” says Shiboprosad Mukhopadhyay, director of the film, who feels 75 lakh is a decent budget for a content-driven, smart film in Tollywood.
Kaushik Ganguly, no alien to low-budget films, has done “Jackpot”, “Brake Fail”, “Rang Milanti” before gearing up for his next release, “Laptop”. “The audiences are no fools. They’ll not come to watch a film just because it’s been made on a mega budget. Gone are those days, when the crowd would consider a film to be a window to the outside world. Now, people come to watch films by meaningful directors and substantial actors. Content is king and budget is the least of all concerns.”
Setting a trend has been Mainak Bhaumick, who made “Aamra” on a budget of 30 lakh in 2006. Says the director, “Both “Maach Mishti & More” and “Bedroom” are small-budget films. The audience’s tastes have changed. They are more inclined towards realistic cinema with palatable content that people can relate to. And you don’t need crores to make a realistic film.”
Another director who’s making the world sit up and take note of his micro-budget film, “Gandu”, is Q. The film has done the rounds of 50 international film festivals, bagging six awards till now. ““Gandu” has been made on a micro budget. I see a growing trend of making low-budget films as it’s technically possible. The audience too is more keen on narratives. Good packaging of a bad story will not help,” says Q.
Access to modern technology has also come as a huge boon, feels Subrata Sen, whose “Nondinee” and also the morerecent “Koyekti Meyer Golpo” are slated for release this year. “Films can be shot in digital. Things have become easier what with the advent of DSLR HD camera. It’s a small camera that helps shoot experimental films. Also, newer vistas have opened up through which filmmakers are now breaking even,” he says. The director adds that there can be no comparison with Bollywood. “Tollywood is way ahead of Bollywood. What they are doing now, we have done long back. And there can be no comparison between our small-budget films and theirs. If they are making low-budget films, we are churning out no-budget films.”
So encouraging has the trend been that even big production houses are venturing into small-budget films. Mahendra Soni of Shree Venkatesh Films says, “Budget doesn’t define the success of a film. “Memories in March” is the best example of that. It has travelled the world over. It has the content to connect to the audience. “Baishe Srabon” too is a medium-budget film and, in fact, Srijit’s (Mukherji) next is also made on a small budget. We are thinking of making more such movies. There’s an audience for both largerthan-life and small, content-driven films.”
Kaustuv Roy of RP Techvision, who has already tasted success with “Cha-e-Chuti”, feels small budget doesn’t translate into small impact on the box office. ““Cha-e-Chuti” was made on a budget of 55 lakh. “Bye Bye Bangkok”, another hit, was made with 80 lakh, excluding the publicity cost. I always insist on one thing: script is of utmost importance. It doesn’t matter if you are tapping exotic locales or not. A strong storyline is what matters most.”
Rana Sarkar of DagCmedia, who made “Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona” on a budget of around 1 crore and 30 lakh, is gearing up with the next from his stable — “Bedroom”. “The film costs about a crore. Considering how times have changed, I think both these films can easily fit into the low-budget bill. Today, the only thing audiences are looking for is original content. Small budget is no constraint when it comes to cinema and Tollywood, in recent times, has proven that.”
FAb Five from Tollywood
NONDINEE
Subrata Sen tells the story of a fashion photographer who falls in love with a married woman, leading to a torrid extramarital affair.
BEDROOM
Mainak Bhaumick gets into the minds of seven characters to reveal how the picture perfect lives they lead are not so perfect after all.
CHARULATA 2012
Agnidev Chatterjee’s modern take on “Charulata”, shows how boredom creeps into the life of a homemaker, Chaiti, who chats online to connect with a friend, Sanjay.
GANDU
Frustrated with his life, aspiring rapper Gandu steals money from his mother to finance a trip with his friend, Ricksha. Q’s rap musical is a must-watch as and when it releases.
KOYEKTI MEYER GOLPO
Made on a micro-budget, this Subrata Sen film is a survival tale of a handful of young girls. The film stars Raima Sen, Tanusree, Parno Mittra, Locket Chatterjee and Kanchana Moitra, among others.
Fab five from Bollywood
MICHAEL
A character-driven psychological thriller by Ribhu Dasgupta, “Michael” is the only Hindi film which was selected for world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011.
THE BLUEBERRY HUNT
Directed by Anup Kurian, this film has Naseeruddin Shah playing a recluse who grows marijuana for a living and is disillusioned with the social system.
CHAALIS CHAURAASI
A Hriday Shetty film, it stars veteran actors Naseeruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni, Kay Kay Menon and Ravi Kissen. It’s a story of four cops on a mission.
BITS AND PIECES
National Award-winning director Manmohan Mahapatra’s debut Hindi venture starring Rahul Bose, Nandita Das, Raima Sen, Dia Mirza and Parikshit Sahani is about one’s search for his own identity.
SHANGHAI
Coming from Dibakar Banerjee’s stable, this political thriller focusses on the revenge of the common man. The film stars Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin and Prosenjit Chatterjee.