Undoubtedly, there is no other powerful medium like cinema that brings transformation in a human perspective, thought process – a huge change in society, culture, and politics too. The Indian Cinema has unveiled significantly in recent years. Modern-day Indian cinema, by not confining itself to being a source of mere entertainment, has gone beyond, by experimenting to progress towards showcasing “social and responsible cinema”, thereby having a stronger impact on the masses. Indian cinema has become one of the most influential and powerful tools in addressing various social issues via the medium of a screenplay. While driving its values from Digital, Consumer behaviors, innovating technology, evolving narratives, high-quality content, it has also given us an opportunity to reach out globally across all cultures.
Earlier the cinema was restricted to limited seats and a single screen in very traditional cinema halls, then the multiplexes came with multiple choices of screens, watching a movie more became like going for a family outing, a social gathering of sorts. It became a grand experience to watch a movie with the entire family in the theatres to experience premium quality sound and visual effects.
However, with trending times, the world of Cinema is now moved to digital- an alternate means of showcasing content. From my perspective, the evolution of Indian cinema is moving from a typical song and dance routine to creating high-quality content, with social impact, and for a global audience. To increase the reach and consumption of our content to a wider enlightened audience, OTT platforms have played a distinguished part. It is all about convenience and a click now – your home is your multiplex – so certainly a huge evolution in consumer behavior is evident.
Over time, we movie makers have also evolved in our thought process in terms of being more innovative, using newer technology, trying new fresh content, over just doing a typical Bollywood masala film. It is obvious from the success of our film Torbaaz, produced under our banner of Clapstem Entertainment, with Sanjay Dutt playing the main lead -that is trending on Netflix even after it is released a month back. We choose very global content, and the result is in front of the world. So as producers, we all have to change the consumer’s behavior and trends. A villain does not have to look like a typical stereotype villain, and a macho actor like Sanjay Dutt doesn’t necessarily have to have a fight scene. There is a lot of evolution from the point of characterization and for the actor angle as well. We shot Torbaaz in Kyrgyzstan, a place where no movie has been shot. This adds another dimension to the evolved thinking, in terms of exploring new, untouched locations that create a visual delight while encapsulating the essence of the narrative.
Another key trend that has contributed to the evolution of Indian Cinema is the creation of high-value content with a limited budget. The movie’s budget does not have to be massive to ensure success. There have been many instances where the release has been on a lower scale, and since the content was appealing, it gained word of mouth and resulting in an increased number of shows and hence the revenue.
While the Indian Cinema is evolving itself, we are constantly facing challenges and risks- especially associated with being exposed to piracy and huge taxation levied by the policymakers. Hope we see some solutions there as these issues deeply impact the Indian Film Industry, especially in current times of pandemic.
I can conclude by saying today cinema has a significant impact on the global economy, with language, culture, borders not being a barrier at all. It has become more human and realistic, connecting human through the impactful language of love, hope, humanity, and compassion.
We, at Clapstem, want to keep evolving along with the trends and work on fresh and newer content having a global appeal.
Authored Article by Puneet Singh, Producer of Torbaaz.
