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The fact that an article is being written on the relative merits of stars and stories in Bollywood to churn out a box office hit shows how times have changed and how this change has impacted on the form, content and star power of films in Bollywood today. Mainstream films made in the 1950s, 60s and 70s will demonstrate an ideal amalgam of form, content and star power.
Films like Deedar (1951), Devdas (1955), Mother India (1957), or Pyaasa (1957) made by different directors were box office hits not only because they had big stars but also because the films were based on strong storylines that have stood the test of time. Films directed by Bimal Roy, Mehboob, B.R. Chopra, Guru Dutt, and many more across three decades defined an ideal mix of good story and big stars.
But the box office is a treacherous friend who can become an enemy when you least expect it to. So, there are exceptions. Adhi Raat (1950) with Ashok Kumar and Nargis in the lead directed by S.K. Ojha was a box office disaster. There is no record of this film’s story or analysis anywhere. Bimal Roy’s Baap Beti (1954) adapted from Somerset Maugham’s Simon’s Papa was another box office failure. There were no stars in the film but the script was outstanding. This story about a fatherless little girl who sets out in search of a father to prove to her school friends that she has one and the villainous man who is forced to pretend to be her father but ultimately begins to care for her were portrayed by Baby Tabassum and Ranjan relatively little known among the Hindi audience. Guru Dutt’s ambitious cinemascope film Kaagaz Ke Phool had a great story about a film director who falls on bad times which destroys him completely was a box office disaster though Waheeda Rehman was the lead actress.
Namkeen, a brilliant film directed by Gulzar was based on a story by noted Bengali author Samaresh Bose. Though it had a stellar cast with Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi and Sanjeev Kumar, this ideal combo of good story and great star actors failed to set the box office on fire and collapsed in theatres where it was released. Guide (1966) on the other hand, directed by Vijay Anand and featuring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman in the romantic lead, was based on a noted novel by the late R.K. It remains one of the most outstanding examples of a happy marriage between script and star power. Other elements that made it an archival film are – the music by S.D. Burman, the cinematography, the editing and the choreography and dance numbers.
Says filmmaker-journalist Amit Khanna, “There is an acute shortage of good scripts because not enough time and money is invested in them. No film industry can survive on remakes and sequels. We need to invest in new writing talent and catch up with both our own literature and cinema and the world’s. If one film clicks, everyone is ready to jump on the bandwagon of that genre,” (Mail Online India, December 27, 2013.)
In recent times, sometimes, a film does extremely well without a single star. The best is Vicky Donor (2012) directed by Shoojit Sircar, produced by actor John Abraham and featuring two absolute newcomers in the romantic lead – Anshuman Khanna and Yami Gautam. It bagged three national awards because the cameo actors were unforgettable. The director tackled a sensitive storyline of sperm donation for money which turns into a love story which again changes tracks to portray how sperm donation is a blessing for young parents who cannot conceive a child biologically. Through touches of humour, satire and caustic comments, the film reaches out to tug at the heartstrings of the audience while educating and entertaining at the same time.
What does the scenario spell out today in Bollywood’s snakes-and-ladders’ game of hits and misses? Accept that the stakes have changed dramatically from the time Devdas and Mother India were made. Ancillary rights like Satellite TV, DTH, Home Video, Digital downloads are beginning to contribute significantly to a film’s earnings even as music rights (digital downloads and ringtones) are fetching good returns. But the filmmaker is still hung up on his film becoming a hit in the theatres though the money from other channels gives him the confidence of bagging a producer for his next film.
Star images are now carefully constructed and designed much before the young aspirant faces the movie camera on the sets. Looks are designed, look tests are structured carefully, stylists are appointed to decide on hair styles, costume designers are called in to draft the costumes to create a certain look that should not clash with competitors in the industry or with the actor’s screen image in a given film. After all this hullabaloo, there is hardly much time to waste on looking for a solid storyline since it is assumed that the star – new or old or somewhere in the middle, will be able to make the box office coffers ring loud enough for the neighbourhood to hear.
Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015) is a sequel that is more marriage oriented than story oriented. Generously sprinkle a double dose of top draw actress and two-time National Award winner Kangana Ranaut paired opposite a less-than-hot Madhavan and you can be sure that the film will hit the bull’s eye – it has! Shriram Raghavan’s Badlapur (2015) defines that a thriller with enough action punched with several twists and turns within an imaginative storyline can hit the audience even with lesser-than-grade-one star attractions. Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddique and Humra Quereshi have a long way to reach the heights of the three Khans yet – Shahrukh, Amir and Salman, right?
Contrast this against Amir Khan who spreads himself both thick and thin right across that extra-terrestrial-cum-terrestrial love-hate story called PK clothed in the guise of a sci-fi in bright colours with loud music and fast action and you have a hit all the way. Heavy doses of the narcissistic Amir Khan set against an incredible story of an extra-terrestrial landing on Planet Earth and the box office jingles can probably be heard from where PK came from! Big Star plus no story is equal to BIG HIT! Piku, another unusual storyline about a hypochondriac father and his frustrated daughter from the wonderfully ingenuous stable of Shoojit Sircar proves that stars and their brilliant histrionic talents can make even chronic constipation appear attractive! Thin story brought to life by larger-than-life actors can paint the town with all the colours of the currency notes with Gandhiji’s face printed on them even when the story has nothing worthwhile to speak of.
Let us wait and see what Bajrangi Bhaijaan has in store for us – star or story or both?
