India’s new generation of directors have the spunk. Most of them are well-educated, extremely articulate, in tune with the latest trends in world cinema and quite comfortable with the new climate of professionalism in Bollywood.

As the mercury climbs, Bollywood is having a new reason to celebrate. More than a dozen enterprising directors, fired by the spirit of youth and drama, are making their debut this summer with films that are as refreshing in form as can be varied in content.

From glitzy crime capers and action thrillers to spunky romances, insane comedies, robust musicals and syrupy melodramas... with even a stylish ghost story thrown in, these youngsters are pushing the boundaries of Hindi cinema in ways never seen before.

Leading the brat pack are names like Vijay Krishna Acharya (Tashan), Jaideep Sen (Krazzy 4), Rajkumar Gupta (Aamir), Kunal Shivdasani (Hijack), Abbas Tyrewala (Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na), Vivek Sharma (Bhootnath) and actor Ajay Devgan with his directorial debut U Me Aur Hum.

All the new filmmakers have hitherto been fringe players in Bollywood, either moonlighting as scriptwriters or cutting their directorial teeth under veterans like Mahesh Bhatt and Rakesh Roshan.

Significantly, none of the big daddies has anything new on offer this season. It is not as though they have run out of steam; but they would rather wait and watch. Meanwhile, many of them have turned producers and are bankrolling the films of their former assistants. Some are actually sitting on the editing consoles and helping the juniors make the ‘final cut’. It is this practice of encouraging youngsters with potential—a tradition that goes back to the days of Bimal Roy and Raj Kapoor—that makes Bollywood such a special place. Unlike the self-absorbed art house filmmakers elsewhere, mainstream Hindi directors are known to nurture fresh talent and give deserving apprentices a break.

Last year, as many as 26 directors got their break. Of them, only four could make a mark—Sagar Bellary (Bheja Fry), R Balakrishnan (Cheeni Kum), Sajid Khan (Hey Baby) and Aamir Khan (Taare Zameen Par). All the rest, including Feroze Khan (Gandhi My Father), Navdeep Singh (Manorama Six Feet Under), Anil Mehta (Aaja Nachle), Manoj Tyagi (Mumbai Salsa) and Sanjay Khanduri (Ek Chaalis Ki Local) were rejected by audiences. Even among those who survived the box office, none could match the success of past masters like Mani Ratnam (Guru), Farah Khan (Om Shanti Om) and Shimit Amin (Chak De! India). So it is not as though the greenhorns can claim a better understanding of marketing dynamics or are guaranteeing success in some manner.

Then why is Bollywood still being so generous towards them?

The most obvious and simple answer to this is that the veterans have taken a break for the moment. They may well be applauding a new generation of filmmakers augmenting Bollywood’s talent pool, but the fact is they have all developed cold feet. Since Veer Zaara in 2004, Yash Chopra is yet to pick up the megaphone. The other big-timer, Karan Johar is still trying to figure out why Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna did not work as well as his previous two films. Likewise, Subhash Ghai has not come up with a film after Kisna bombed in 2005.

Even Rakesh Roshan has applied the brakes after Krishh in 2006 and is now producing other people’s films like Krazzy 4 and Kites. Ramgopal Varma, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and others of their generation are similarly cooling their heels in the shadows for obvious reasons. Incidentally, all of them have announced some fancy titles for the future but those are in the nature of a face-saving device.

There are, however, deeper reasons for the resurgence of youth power in Hindi cinema. With corporatisation setting in, the work culture in Bollywood has changed to such extent that old-timers are finding it hard to adjust. They are just not accustomed to deliver by bound scripts, spreadsheets and flow charts, deal with cheque payments, draw up insurance policies for the crew and equipment and have auditors breathing down their necks at all times.

While the new breed of filmmakers have taken to these measures of financial discipline like fish take to water, Chopra and Ghai belong to a generation that functioned best in conditions of anarchy.

Their most successful films came out at a time when stars threw fits on the sets, there were no scripts to go by, nobody was accountable and money flowed in from dubious sources like smugglers, bucket repairers, underworld goons and assorted horse breeders.

Corporate bodies like Reliance, Percept Pictures, UTV and Moser Baer have changed all that. Their financial muscle has triggered a phenomenal boom in production with national output breaching the 1,000-film mark in 2007 and Bollywood itself recording an unprecedented 17 per cent growth over the previous year.

Today, money is not an issue for any of the market players as long as they are able to grab the right talent and spread their risks across a variety of films. The biggest beneficiaries of their largesse have been the top-ranking stars like Hritik Roshan, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. Now, it is the turn of the directors.

Already, directors who are neither young nor old but with a fairly decent track record, have been booked on two to three film contracts by leading corporates. In this category are the likes of Madhur Bhandarkar (Chandni Bar), Rajkumar Hirani (Munnabhai) and Nikhil Advani (Kal Ho Na Ho). Others like Pradeep Sarkar (Parineeta) and Anurag Basu (Gangster) who have been just as successful are supposed to be playing hard to get.

Additionally, what has tilted the scales in favour of debutant directors is their background. Most of them are well-educated, extremely articulate, in tune with the latest trends in world cinema and quite comfortable with the new climate of professionalism in Bollywood. They do not carry any baggage from the past. Most importantly, they are completely one with their target audience—the young, restless and upwardly mobile crowds that frequent multiplexes. They speak their language. They think the same. Their sensibilities are the same.

The director-audience connect is complete. (The Statesman/ AsiaNews)