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Neelam Gupta

SAY Bollywood and it's Mumbai (Bombay to some) that comes to mind. The city is the birthplace of Hindi cinema, and it is from here that cinema grew and expanded its family across the country. This is the town where this multi-crore industry throbs and thrives. Mumbai is the heart of Hindi cinema.

After more than a hundred years, this association has grown so big that the success of a film is measured by its acceptance level in this town. If a film makes a good collection in this City of Dreams, it is automatically declared a hit. Take the case of Dil Chahta Hai or Mr & Mrs Iyer, even Company and Bhoot. They drew full houses only in Mumbai and yet they were tagged hit films.

Admits director Farhan Akhtar, "I agree that Dil Chahta Hai was a hit only in Mumbai and overseas. It had not done well in other centres. But then my first film had carried my own experiences of Bombay life."

Comments Sunil Darshan, maker of films such as Dhadkan and Andaaz, "Bombay is not even 20 per cent of a film's entire coverage, but select biased media planners or critics use it as barometer. Dil Chahta Hai and Lagaan are the recent examples. Dil Chahta Hai was not a big success even in Bombay, but it was backed by certain high-profile editors who painted the picture much rosier than what it was. It was projected as the new success genre of Hindi cinema. Lagaan was a qualitative film. Gadar and Lagaan were released on the same day. Gadar garnered four times more business than Lagaan, but it was still sidelined. Promotional packages with big publications work in the favour of even unsuccessful films. The media is misused grossly."

The fact is that Mumbai has also become the birthplace of segmentation of the cinema audience. It produced audience for commercial cinema. An offshoot of this was art cinema lovers from where grew metro cinema fans. The latest segregation of cine-goers is the multiplex audience.

Why does Mumbai complicate simple issues relevant to films? "This is a very unfortunate divide. Cinema is just cinema. It can be good or bad, entertaining or educating. But today there are groups of people that try to create this split to equate the commercial success of a film with a good film. You need to use another yardstick of technical expertise to measure the two forms of success," argues Ms Priya Sugathan, a student of cinema and a film critic.

Does this translate into the belief that whatever has a global storyline and is accepted by Mumbaikars only is good? Then it would mean that filmmakers need to target metro audiences only. Disagrees Mr Taran Adarsh, a senior trade critic and analyst. "Today the concept that Mumbai is the barometer of Hindi cinema's success has changed. Now, once again we are looking at all of India. We see how much business a film has done all over the country. Although Mumbai collections do make a difference, it is no longer the final call." He cited the recent example of Hawas, which has done mediocre business in Mumbai but very good collections in other territories. "It's declared a hit," he says.

Mumbai's influence on films is not restricted only to measuring the success of a film. Stories in films revolve a lot around the city's lifestyle; such films find favour in Mumbai and are, in turn, declared successful. Vaastav, Company, Kaante, Chandni Bar, Satya, Ab Tak Chappan are some films that tell of success stories in Mumbai. Tum Bin, Style and Nayee Padosan succeeded beyond Mumbai and they are not even included in the successful films list. Films such as Vaastav and Ab Tak Chappan also feature the typical Mumbai language. This further connects them to Mumbai and its culture and disconnects them from the rest of the country.

The exception was Munna Bhai MBBS. "I have used Indian Language," director Vidhu Vinod Chopra had said.

So should we make films only on metro lifestyle? "There has been a rise in metro-centric cinema. This is the cinema that urban Indian relates to," says Dhadkan's Sunil Darshan.

Mr Saddas Joseph of Wiz Craft cites another reason for Mumbai-centric stories. (Wiz Craft has taken Indian cinema across countries through IFFA.) "Today Indian cinema has gone across multiple markets. It is not restricted to India or Indians only. Dil Chahta Hai or Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham may not have done well in India but they were a huge success abroad. Today a filmmaker is making a film for the international market too. So the story is not necessarily of Bombay lifestyle. It is about urban youth. Abroad nobody connects Bollywood to Bombay. Any Indian film of any language is perceived as Bollywood."

Whatever be the reason, it is certain that Mumbai still rules the world of Hindi cinema within the country. In spite of attempts by the government to create another film city in Noida, it is Mumbai that still remains the nerve centre.

Picture by Shashi Ashiwal

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