Film critic, journalist, writer, MAMI Festival Director Anupama Chopra gives Nichola Pais her frank and forthright assessment of the year that was…
Shifting Perceptions
For me, one of the most amazing things of 2014 was how much of exciting work the actresses were doing. In a year when you have performances like Kangana in ‘Queen’, Alia in ‘Highway’ and Deepika in ‘Finding Fanny’, Rani in ‘Mardaani’, Priyanka in ‘Mary Kom’, the women are doing far more exciting work than the men. For me, that was the real highlight of 2014.
There is a clear shifting of perceptions; there is a shifting of box office as well. ‘Queen’ was the biggest example; it was the most significant movie of the year in terms of how it did and what it said and how successful it was. So I think definitely, there is an audience out there and filmmakers are recognising that and creating more and more interesting roles for women. And I hope that continues.
Restrictive Pressure
It definitely seems like the women are more open to experimenting but it might also be that the men are caught up in the Rs 100 core, Rs 200 crore trap. Each film has to be bigger than the next and each film has to top first day collections. And how experimental really can you be when the bottom line is so, so critical? I don’t know! I mean, when you’re thinking Rs 300 crore, how much are you going to experiment with the story? The men have such gigantic mantles to carry, maybe the Rs 200 crore club is now a real trap. It’s restricting. I will not say anything about PK but you look at what the other leading men have done through the year and really, it might be fun, it might be very successful but it’s just more of the same. Salman has not gone out on a limb when he did ‘Kick’; neither has Shah Rukh when he did ‘Happy New Year’, nor Akshay Kumar when he did ‘Entertainment’, or even Hrithik for ‘Bang Bang’; I mean he is so great and he looks so gorgeous but how does that stretch him as an actor?
Stand-out Performances
Rajkummar Rao was so good in ‘Queen’, he was so good in ‘Citylights’; he’s really somebody I look forward to watching on screen. Of course, Nawazuddin – I think what Nawazuddin did in ‘Kick’ was just astounding. For me, he was just such a thrill in that movie. I was very worried when I saw the promos – I was like, damn, another one bites the dust. But I thought what he did was just fantastic. Kangana in ‘Queen’ – I had never imagined that performance ever. Alia in ‘Highway’; I had no idea she could do that honestly! I don’t say that in any sort of patronising way, it’s just that nothing which she did earlier – which is ‘Student Of The Year’ – would lead me to believe that she could pull this off.
Critical Downside
I do get fatigued watching many bad ones in a row. Like in November, there was ‘Super Nani’, and there was ‘Action Jackson’ which, in my mind, was just like a whole other level of bad cinema… So when you have several bad ones in a row then you get just exhausted. It’s difficult to keep your enthusiasm in place. The good thing is that I also do recommendations every week, so I always end up on a weekly basis watching at least one really good film. So they kind of cancel each other out!
Book Mark
I also have a book coming out end-January, on the different conversations in my TV show, ‘The Front Row’. The most interesting of all the interviews I did will now be put into a book that will be published by Harper Collins and launched at the Jaipur Literature Festival. The show ‘The Front Row’ wrapped in June and it has a very special place in my heart. I’m very excited that it will live on in way in this book.
What I am curious about as a journalist is more the process than the glamour. I’m always very interested in knowing how human beings deal with success and failure and that too on such a massive scale and in public glare. But I’m not that interested in what they eat or who they are in a relationship or what brand they’re wearing. I mean, as a journalist I’m just not so interested in that. I’m more interested in how you emote in front of the camera to create these characters that live with us forever! So that is what drives me, but I’ve never consciously said I won’t talk about glamour. I mean, glamour is a very integral part of their lives; it’s just not what excites me a lot.
