Hindi Films : The Top 10... who brought the change

Change is inevitable... and it has taken place in Hindi Film Industry... at a slow rate... still the last decade has been amazing... with new directors coming in... struggling to make films.... and struggling to get them released...
... so here is my Top 10... people who did bring the change.... 
(PS : This is not a list of Top 10 ... but the top 10 who changed the way the films were made)






10 : Ram Gopal Varma : The man who started it all
Well... take it or not... he was the one who started making "different" films... starting with Satya in the late 90s... he continued making anti-love-thy-family films thru out the 00s. The only sad thing : he could have been much higher in the rankings... 10th rank justifies his factory that has given us at least 10 directors which in fact changed the way films are made these days... His life though seems as if we are seeing a fast-forward a la- Dev Anand






 

9 : Imtiaz Ali / Raj Kumar Hirani : Makers of Clean & Lovely Cinema
Well... there is a reason for having them both in the 9th place... because they make adorable films... films that are fun to watch... films that are clean... they don't make different films... and to an extent they haven't changed the industry greatly..
 
However they have proved comedy need not be vulgar... and love stories can also feature people who may normal people like us...
Raj Kumar is rightly compared with Hrishida.... Every time I see somebody watching Munnabhai (1 or 2)... I see a smile which goes on and on.... 3 idiots was a bit of a "clean" disappointment though... !!!
I remember watching Socha Na Tha on a CD... by the time the movie ended.... I knew I liked it... I didn't know why... 
... I talked to a friend of mine... and he said... "I didn't like it... what's the point in making a love story where the hero/heroine just act as if they are commoners".... well... I had got my answer....







8 : Rajat Kapoor : Independent film maker
This one's my favorite... and all he wants to do is to make films... A film-maker since 16 years but came to prominence after the affable Raghu Romeo which did rounds to a lot of film festivals... it won some awards too...  I was stunned to see the movie... after Mixed Doubles... he came again with Mithya.... which in my opinion is among the top 5 films of the last decade.... Another reason for having him in this list is his ability to bring talent to films.... Ranvir Shourey... Vinay Pathak... Saagar Bellary .... all of them made their mark because of Rajat.
PS : I have a dream to meet this person... Rajat... are you listening?











7 : Farhan Akhtar : Filmy... very filmy...
I know a lot of my friends would want to kill me for this one... well... I am not a great fan of his... but I have to say... he did to the Indian Cinema what Tarantino did with Hollywood... Dil Chahta Hai was not only a good film but a film which spawned an entirely new genre of movies... It's been 9 years since DCH... the amazing part is you still see movies in which the storyline is a deviation of DCH.... He doesn't make great films.... but all is films are fun.... Don too was a mediocre film.... but when did he brag it being a "Do Bigha Zameen"... make no mistake... he is here for the commercial movies... and has been good at it...
... I surely would have put Zoya Akhtar in this... however she is just one film old...









 
6 : Jaideep Sahni : The script-writer....
Jaideep reintroduced a lot of directors with the most basic part of the film... the Script. When most of out film-jokers kept relying on on-the-set-scene-writers... he came up with a water-tight script. Jaideep has been a blessing to the Industry. I can't understand how RGV lost him... I am waiting for him to direct a movie in the coming years... and I hope he does... unless Yashraj are keen on using him for more "Aaja Nachley"s












5 : Ranvir Shourey / Vinay Pathak / Kay Kay Menon / Boman Irani / Abhay Deol / Konkona Sen Sharma : Actors par excellence
This place goes to the new breed of actors.... and I know I am missing a lot of them... what they have done is outstanding.... These people look like us.... they feel the way we do... and whenever you see them... it feels as if you are watching a part of yourself on the celluloid... 






4 : Dibakar Banerjee : The magician
If you want to watch a movie... and then forget about it... make sure it's not from Dibakar. The guy has made 3 movies... 3 totally different movies.... and all of them masterpieces.... His journey started with Khosla Ka Ghosla... and every time I saw Anupam Kher... he reminded me of my dad... and every time I saw Boman Irani... he reminded me of a relative of mine I can't write about in the blog... All his movies talk about people... who are like us... I have a suggestion for him though....
"Man... don't put.... "All the characters in the films are fictious" in your movies... they never look that way"









3 : Vishal Bhardwaj : The Shakespeare of the films
Like his mentor Gulzar, Vishal is a man with extreme talent.... a fantastic composer, a terrific writer, and in my opinion, the best director in the Hindi Film Industry today (and if he has his ways... he sings too). All of his movies have been absolute gems... 
Again... the best thing about him is that he doesn't limit himself to any genres in film-making... he made his directorial debut with Makdee.... a children's film.... Maqbool and Omkara were based on shakespearean plays with the mafioso background.... Blue Umbrella was again a fantastic film (although for me it was never a children film)... He proved in Kaminey that he too could make a commercial one... and that too better than the rest.





2 : Anurag Kashyap : Arrogant, Indulgent, Narcissist
What RGV started with.... Anurag has reached that height... I am one of those who people who have always believed that India lost out on an Oscar by not letting his Black Friday release... This man has fought a lone battle for years... and it has been our loss all the time... 
This man is the Stanley Kubrick of our industry.... if he makes a movie... it surely will have a lot of shit in that... If there is one person who knows about cinema more than anybody... it has to be Anurag. Probably one of the best script-writer in India. Has an amazing sense of music.... finally he is catching up on whatever he has lost out on. Will always be remembered as a man who changed Hindi Film Industry forever.... still the first place doesn't go to him....






1 : Ronnie Screwvala : The Sky where all of them can fly
All the 9 entries above are film-makers or actors... However, the top slot goes to this man... who doesn't direct, act or do anything within the film... but he makes sure... that anybody and everybody who knows films should be in films... He is the one who has introduced our audience to films that nobody wanted to produce... he not only produced them but also made sure they were commercially viable. He gave a platform where people like you and me can make films. and no He is not here to loose money... he is here to change the way Hindi Films were produced... it has taken time for UTV Motion Pictures and UTV Spotboy to be where they are... but the revolution has begun.... and now other major names have joined in... but he is the one who is at the top... and should remain so....





I could have gone on length mentioning much more about these great people... however... let me stop here....  and as I said... this list is about the people who did make a change... not about the greatest... hence names like Shekhar Kapoor, A R Rehman, Sudhir Mishra are missing.... since change mostly starts with filmmakers... most of the people mentioned here are directors....



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5 comments:

Mandrake Friday, March 26, 2010 2:29:00 PM  

Hi there,

A very nice post indeed. I agree with the list in entirity. I so very much wish though that there could have been a mention of 2 more directors, John Mathew Mathan and Tigmanshu Dhulia. I guess they lost out because they couldnt keep carrying the torch, but I do feel, Sarfarosh and Haasil were path breakers. Your Thoughts...

Soumya.

And hey, I'm happiest to find someone interested in cinema. Do check my blog, you might like it. :)

Saurabh Panshikar Saturday, March 27, 2010 9:39:00 PM  

A very thought and well researched post... Mostly agree with the ranking, but I wish Rajat Kapoor was a little higher

Freak's paradise Sunday, March 28, 2010 1:05:00 AM  

Thanks Soumya,
Somehow... Sarfarosh failed to excite me... the problem was (in my opinion) with the way Aamir portrayed his character.... I think Arshad Warsi in Sehar was brilliant and better than Aamir in the uniform.. however I am a bit biased though...

Saurabh... thanks to you too. I agree with you and honestly in my opinion Mithya has been the best movie of the last decade... but here I was talking about people who did the change... and hence unfortunately... he could not rank at top... I consider him and Vishal as the best 2 directors in India today.... !!!

Anonymous,  Monday, July 26, 2010 7:00:00 PM  

You made a mistake. Where is ManiRathnam, the MASTER PIECE? He should be at No.1 place, how should you omit him.AR Rahman also brings lots of changes in Music Industry. You missed them.

Unknown Thursday, March 17, 2022 5:44:00 PM  

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