Bihar must look beyond subsidy to become film-makers’ preferred shooting destination: Anubhav Sinha

Patna, Dec 23 (PTI) States like Bihar could emerge as a favourite destination for film-makers if the governments could devise policies that were sensitive to their needs and looked beyond providing subsidy for shooting, renowned movie director Anubhav Sinha said.

Known for critically acclaimed works like 'Mulk', 'Article 15' and 'Thappad', Sinha spoke to PTI in Patna, which he visited as part of a multi-city journey, which he likes to call "chal picture chalein".

"I wanted to get a first-hand feel of the way the taste of the audience has evolved, following the rapid socio-economic and political changes seen across the country. One thing that I have realised during my journey is that it is a myth that viewers in the metros have likes and dislikes which are different from their counterparts in the smaller towns," Sinha said.

Born in Allahabad, now known as Prayagraj, and educated in Varanasi and Aligarh, Sinha counts himself as one of the millions who had their roots in small towns and moved to a bustling metropolis with the ambition of making it big.

The 60-year-old is happy that his home state Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have come up with their “film policies”, which indicates a recognition by governments of these provinces for the need to tap the vast untapped potential.

“These two states are huge as a market. These can have their own film cities. However, the film policies here, sadly, have been mostly about providing subsidies to makers who choose to shoot here. I wish the governments held interactions with producers and directors prior to devising policies, instead of relying on bureaucrats who do not have an intimate knowledge of the film-making process," Sinha said.

He added, “Cost, no doubt, is a factor in film-making. I often like to give the analogy that the amount spent on making a decent movie is equivalent to the cost of setting up a textile mill. Having said that, I can wager that the cost of shooting is not the top priority of a film-maker while choosing a location." Sinha said he would love it if the governments in states like UP and Bihar set up film institutes which would churn out a pool of trained manpower, as this would come in handy for a producer or director who chooses to fly down from Mumbai for shooting.

"Moreover, I often feel we have a dearth of good screenplay writers. Film institutes in various parts of the country will help in tapping the vast pool of talent in smaller towns," he said.

"At present, a film-maker who chooses to shoot in Patna, for example, needs to bring in not just the actors, but the entire crew. If we have trained locals available for assistance, it would spare us much trouble. And then a location becomes attractive despite its distance from a well-established film-making centre like Mumbai," Sinha said.

During the free-wheeling interaction, the multi-faceted personality, who has won awards not just as a producer-director, but also as a writer of screenplays and dialogues, also shared his views about concerns over movies like 'Animal' and 'Dhurandhar', laughing all the way to the bank despite a high dose of violence.

Sinha said, “There has, undoubtedly, been a greater acceptance of violence in movies. This has been, in my view, because wars and military conflicts can now be watched on television. Children of today are exposed to a far greater amount of gore, in the form of news, than their parents”.

"However, I am convinced that ultimately the human heart yearns for peace and love, and these are things which people like to watch in movies. For example, 'Animal' may have made news for other reasons, but fundamentally it was the story of a son’s passionate love for his father," he pointed out.

Sinha also said he was not worried about blockbusters like 'Dhurandhar' being seen as a “propaganda” tool and, on a candid note, remarked “to an extent even 'Mulk' and 'Article 15' could be called propaganda films. The only difference may have been that these were not pro-establishment”.

“Movies which have an element of violence and propaganda have always been made. But we are a vast nation with diverse tastes. This diversity will always deter film-makers from following violence and propaganda as a template. There will also be a wide variety of themes”, Sinha said.

He also voiced disappointment over the falling standards of cinema in regional languages like Bhojpuri, which, incidentally, is also spoken widely in his home town Varanasi.

“People of the Bhojpuri-speaking region have given up on the cinema of their mother tongue. In older times, entire families used to turn up at theatres to watch Bhojpuri films. This ensured that makers came out with content that was palatable to such an audience. Not so anymore. So, Bhojpuri film makers have started churning out trashy stuff aimed at making a quick buck”, claimed Sinha. PTI PKD NAC BDC