Indian cinema particularly, Bollywood and its others regional fellows are engaging in a bid that push themselves at the forefront of global cinema circles.
They participate in many International film festivals even before they are screened for the domestic audience. However, it has become a practice for all cinema makers either to get recognized or market for their latest flick long time before, now it has been seen as a part of regular campaign for them.
They have gained a prominence among the international viewers since India is the second largest movie producer after USA, globally. A fraction of Indian cinema finds specific taste of foreign film lovers and thus retains a significant place under their preferences.
Recently they got another recognition from none other than the President of India, Smt Pratibha Patil, while was delivering her speech in the 54th National Film Awards ceremony, heightened the spirit of Indian cinema by saying that, "At a time when every sector of our economy is being influenced and in most cases taking the benefits of the currents of globalization, our film industry can utilize this opportunity too. As interest in India and its culture increases across the globe, the film industry can take advantage of its already large presence and play the role of a cultural ambassador, by showcasing incredible India and its values of humanism, tolerance and harmony."
As this may be at one side, the other at domestic level, we have to look beyond commercial versions and have to explore wider possibilities to project Indian cinema came over the ages of entertainment, that is, purely an entertainment content. We can spot changes in the film making concepts from young entrants across the regions/languages.
Emphasizing the importance of such experiments the President said, "The master storyteller is after all, the one who weaves a powerful message into a seemingly straightforward narrative and makes the viewer introspect. Questions such as why did certain things happen, who was wrong and could things have been done differently - continue to gnaw the mind of the viewer, after watching a thought provoking movie. Therefore, maintaining a balance between entertainment and social relevance shall continue to be a challenge for the industry. While on the one hand a message without entertainment will not capture the attention of the audience and on the other hand, mere entertainment without a message would be like an oyster without a pearl. There is no simple formula for maintaining this balance, but this is your challenge."
The real challenge lay at the hands of new wave experimentalists who do combine the both aspects as a successful formula like films viz. A Wednesday, Firaaq, Mumabi Meri Jaan, Munnabhai series and others who are very recent additions continued with the spirit of ART FILM directors like Shyam Benagal, Govind Nihalani, Adoor Gopalakrishnan etc.
The mid-way of film making apart from enjoying awards and accolades get wider box office recognition from the society, too. However, unless there are innovative ideas to support the film makers in the form of finance, market access, tax concessions, infrastructure for shooting and exhibitions from the government side or through private participation, there is an eminent danger prevails as in the long run film makers may disassociate from these ventures, if they fail for a while or two, commercially.
