A lesson from the Golden Globes for Bollywood

The Golden Globes — like other coveted awards, and film festivals — is meant to celebrate such conviction and journeys. The Brutalist, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September, walked away with the Best Actor (Adrien Brody), Best Director (Brady Corbet) and Best Drama trophies. The epic about a Jewish architect who survived the Holocaust and emigrated to America may have now emerged as a front-runner this award season, but according to Corbet, it did not start out like that.

Spilling the beans in his award acceptance speech, Corbet said, “nobody was asking for a three-and-a-half hour film about a mid-century designer” as it was not seen as a box-office draw. “I was told that this film was un-distributable, that no one would come out and see it, that the film wouldn’t work, and I don’t resent that. But I want to use this as an opportunity to lift up filmmakers… Films don’t exist without the filmmakers,” he said.

The anxiety about box-office results often determines the nature and fate of a film. Indian filmmakers who wish to tread the unconventional path frequently come up against these concerns. In a Reddit chat, Kapadia said that the reason she made All We Imagine As Light in the way she did was so that she could be “free of the baggage of the market”. She added: “Co-producers, distributors and sales agents do not influence my decision making. To me, the film that I make is authentic and genuine to me.” Such an attitude towards filmmaking might not sound pragmatic to a trade analyst, especially after the astounding business done by movies like Stree 2 and Pushpa 2. The former reportedly grossed about Rs 850 crore worldwide, while Pushpa 2 made about Rs 1,800 crore worldwide.

Fortunately, in the world of cinema, the lure of money doesn’t always overpower the desire for excellence in artistry, craft, and storytelling. Recognition and awards will continue to be a huge draw for filmmakers and artists. That is why, in spite of enjoying worldwide success for her films in the 1990s, Demi Moore was gutted when a producer told her that she was “a popcorn actress”. She assumed that she could do movies that were “successful and made a lot of money”, but that she couldn’t be acknowledged as a fine artist. “That corroded me over time,” said the actor after she collected the Globe for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, for The Substance.

The “popcorn” reference is for entertaining crowd-pullers — the kind of movies that dominate the Indian market. They are made with commerce in mind and serve the star system. Notwithstanding the wide acclaim that movies like Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies and Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls have received — despite not giving in to market demands and casting new actors — Indian cinema will always prioritise box-office numbers.

In recent times, however, Hindi cinema has been struggling to succeed at the box office. Remaking South Indian films — 2024’s last Hindi release Baby John is a remake of the Tamil-language Theri (2016) — or using tropes from Tamil or Telugu movies has proven to be disastrous. This has compromised the identity as well as freshness/ingenuity of Hindi cinema. Contrast this with how Malayalam cinema has managed to retain its originality by giving precedence to stories and the art of storytelling.

Hindi filmmakers need to take a leaf out of their book as well as let go of the fear that art and experimentation come in the way of commerce. Or, for reassurance replay the clip of director Jon M Chu’s speech after receiving the first Golden Globe Award for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Chu’s Wicked, which stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, registered a record opening of $114 million and followed it up by creating several new box office records. “In a time where pessimism and cynicism rule the planet, we can still make art that is a radical act of optimism, that is empowerment, that is joy,” said Chu.

alaka.sahani@expressindia.com