Chak De! Redefining Passion in Indian Cinema

Ten years ago, when a set of rural Indians were shown to have beaten the royal Britishers in a game of cricket, it signaled the beginning of a new era in Indian cinema. The ripples of this were again felt a few years later, when a totally neglected Indian women’s hockey team overcame all odds to become the World Champions. What was common in both these movies? The display of passion, and how it could inspire people to do the impossible!

 

The last decade has seen a paradigm shift in the way Indian cinema is being made. While the 90’s saw a lot of movies with love, romance, action and comedy as the common backdrops, many of the movies made in recent times have attempted to evoke a sense of passion among the viewers. While movies like Lakshya and Wake Up Sid focused on how it needs just one instance for a person to realize his or her goal and follow it with full earnest, the blockbuster movie Rang De Basanti managed to agitate the normal Indian citizen’s mind, and inspired him to take steps towards bringing a change in the system. There were also other successful movies made in this period, such as Taare Zameen Par and 3 Idiots, which were based on the theme of pursuing one’s passion whole-heartedly, no matter what the society thought or said.

There has been a lot of maturity and boldness portrayed by the new Indian movie directors as well, whose main objective has been to make path-breaking movies, which make the audience think about various burning issues. Movies like Black Friday and A Wednesday brought out the inherent passion that the directors Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Pandey had towards the topic of terrorism, and the way it has been handled in the country. Both these movies are proof of the dedication that the movie-makers had towards portraying the central idea, which was evident from the phenomenal critical acclaim that  both movies received.

One aspect that is very strongly linked with Indian cinema is its music. Be it the Maestro A R Rahman, the first Indian to receive 2 Oscars for his scores in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, or Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who always manage to come up with fresh tunes in their movies, Indian music directors have ensured that the legacy and passion of the Burmans and the Nayyars is carried forward. With reality music shows gaining so much popularity, it has now become a lot easier for many budding talents across the country to perform at the highest level, and take their passion towards music to its final destination.

Indian cinema has come a long way in the last few years. Be it the boldness with which movie makers are conveying their ideas, or the maturity shown by the actors in portraying characters and stories never thought of before, we are now witnessing a huge change in the level of involvement of the various stakeholders…. And this is just the beginning!

-Team Green (FBI)