What to Expect from Indian Cinema In This New Decade
I can’t believe it’s 2020 already. A new year, a new decade; how time rushes by! The rhythm of another year fills us with hope, perseverance, and the will to do something better than yesterday, doesn’t it?
The previous decade (2009-2019) was quite eventful. A lot happened in the socio-economic-political trade, and also movies. Indian cinema witnessed a wave of change in many aspects.
With the coming decade, our expectations of movies about to hit the theatres have soared considerably. Let’s see how upcoming movies are going to change the game and introduce us to a whole new world of entertainment and art.
Representation of regional cinema
Indian Cinema is often perceived as “Hindi” cinema sidelining the talents from the regional industry. Last year movies like Super Deluxe (2019 Tamil) and Moothon (2019 Malayalam) rewrote this convention, giving more visibility to regional cinema.
While Super Deluxe saw outstanding performances from some of the best talents of the country along with unique storytelling, Moothon had the best visuals captured by Rajeev Ravi and a heartbreaking storyline. These are, obviously, just a few to mention.
In the coming decade, we can expect more such gripping plots and storyline from regional cinema that breaks the glass ceiling and prevents Indian cinema from shrinking to the volume of the Hindi cinema.
Experimenting with Movies
Considering the huge loss that can occur for them, many filmmakers have stayed away from experimenting with their movies.
However, in recent years we saw some brave storytellers who experimented with their style of filmmaking and storytelling. The new and unique storyline, the way of filmmaking, a fresh narrative and so much more have yielded positive results with the audience accepting the film and making it a success.
Actors also taking up roles that go against the conventions should be appreciated equally. Dhanush playing a 50-something-year-old farmer in Asuran (2019 Tamil) quite convincingly is an example of the same.
Gender Equality not just in words
Gender sensitivity in cinema was undoubtedly the most discussed and debated topic of the previous decade. Women in Cinema Collective is the first of its kind to address gender-based issues in Malayalam cinema. It goes without saying that with the introduction of such organizations, women working in the industry will get a platform to discuss their issues and find possible solutions for it.
A change in women’s representation was quite prevalent both behind the camera and in front of the camera. Many movies with a female lead went on to set the cash registers. Kolamavu Kokila (2018 Tamil), Queen (2014 Hindi), Uyare (2019 Malayalam), June (2019 Malayalam), and Helen (2019 Malayalam) are few of them. For obvious reasons, women leads are always paid less than their male counterparts.
With this decade we hope to see a change in this crisis as well. Changing trends in women representation in cinema are baby steps for greater change.
Talent and not Brand Name…
It is unfortunate to see how some films are being made in Bollywood just to launch certain star kids. What the industry needs is a bunch of really talented youngsters and not heirs of ingenuous stardom. It is high time the industry goes behind the much deserving talents irrespective of their genes.
Image Courtesy: YouTube
I can’t stop talking about films, so I blog!
I started The FourthWall, my film blog, to share my thoughts on films and shows with fellow movie buffs, and over the years it has become my happy place. Come join in for some interesting conversations on cinema… and sometimes books and fashion!
