Small wonders

See the contrast in small-budget films like Dev D and Firaaq—which won acclaim and applause. There were more contenders for this league of movies. Little Zizou,The President is Coming,Barah Aana,Sikandar,Sankat City and Chintuji—all did decent business as well as entertained. However,the secret of their success doesn’t lie in their budget,but the handling of the storyline. “If you give the audience something entertaining and gripping enough,I don’t see why they wouldn’t come to watch a small-budget film,” says Shashanka Ghosh,director of the cleverly marketed Quick Gun Murugun. The bilingual film’s good run proved that humour can be a bigger draw than grand sets and costumes.

Ghosh,however,doesn’t believe that things will change overnight but at least things are getting better. “Audiences will always run to films that have a big name,” he says. That’s the reason Sooni Taraporewala roped in John Abraham for Little Zizou even though the script didn’t demand a star. “We did have Boman Irani & John Abraham batting for us. Mira Nair also who very sweetly flew down for a day of Little Zizou publicity. If they had not been there it would have been very very difficult. Without big names you have a hope in hell of being covered by the press,” she confesses. Taraporewala’s strategy paid off. After drawing people to theatres using Abraham’s star appeal,the Rs 2-crore film enjoyed a month-long run at the multiplexes.

Dev.D can lay claim to be this year’s biggest hit among the small-budget fares. With a budget of Rs 6 crore and a very modern take on a very familiar love story,the film’s success revived Anurag Kashyap’s career in film direction and further boosted Abhay Deol’s rising graph in the industry. Compared to this,The President is Coming’s impact might seem paler,but the film,shot mostly at one location in 10 days,had youngsters walking out of theatres laughing. Firaaq’s release was preceded by very little promotional activities. Still,audience started pouring in,albeit slowly,to appreciate the film that had already received rave reviews in the festival circuit.

But stars never lose their shine here. Nor do filmmakers ever lessen their obsession with them. “If you don’t have a big star,then you end up using a huge amount of money in marketing the film. But when you cast a star in a film,then you can trim your marketing expenses,” explains trade analyst N P Yadav.

So small films may not be the best investment option as yet,but the audience seems to be demanding a little more than just masala entertainment. Star power and glitzy promotions will always be an easy way out,but it may not be the only way to lure people to theatres.