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 to shrink to the volume of the Hindi cinema.

Experimenting with Movies

Keeping in consideration of the huge loss that can occur, many filmmakers have stayed away from conducting experiments with their movies. 

Recent years, however, saw some brave creators who experimented with their style of filmmaking and storytelling. The new and unique storyline, way of film making, a fresh narrative and so much more have yielded positive results with the audience accepting the films and making it a success. 

Artists also taking up roles that go against the conventions should be appreciated equally. Dhanush playing a 50+ aged farmer in Asuran (2019 Tamil) quite convincingly is such an example.

Gender Equality not just in words

Gender sensitivity in cinema was undoubtedly the most discussed and debated topics of the previous decade. Women in Cinema Collective is first of its kind to address gender-based issues in Malayalam cinema. It goes without saying that with introduction of such organizations, women working in the industry will get a platform to discuss their issues and find possible solution 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…

Image Courtesy: YouTube