Guwahati
(UNI):
Internationally
acclaimed
film-maker
Jahnu
Barua
has
called
for
a
vibrant
society
to
check
the
rising
number
of
'Mallika
Sherawat-brand'
of
heroines,
blaming
the
phenomenon
on
the
negative
aspect
of
'liberalisation
of
Indian
cinema'.
He
also
urged
the
need
to
produce
world-class
movies,
citing
the
example
of
Iran,
which
makes
a
dozen
films
annually
but
all
top-class.
The
Padmashree
awardee
was
delivering
the
fourth
Jyoti
Prasad
Agarwalla
Memorial
Lecture
on
'The
New
Trend
in
Indian
Cinema
-
Thematically,
Aesthetically
and
Technologically',
organised
by
the
Gauhati
Cine
Club,
here
yesterday.
Mr
Barua
traced
the
origin
of
the
type
of
commercial
cinema
we
are
seeing
now
to
the
economic
liberalisation
of
1991.
He
said,
''Cinema
is
a
huge
economic
investment,
the
content
of
Indian
cinema
was
forced
to
go
through
rapid
changes
with
the
advent
of
new
economic
policies.''
While
the
liberalisation
encouraged
the
film-makers
to
experiment
with
new
themes,
the
multiplexes
and
various
TV
channels
provided
a
platform
for
these
films.
He
said
the
audience
for
'alternative'
cinema,
which
always
existed,
could
be
identified
with
these
changes
and
films
like
15
Park
Avenue,
Everyone
says
I'm
Fine
and
My
Brother
Nikhil
could
be
counted
in
hits.
English
language
Indian
films
and
use
of
English
in
Hindi
films
was
also
growing,
he
added.
Moreover,
liberalisation
also
helped
in
bringing
the
true
talents
to
the
fore,
he
added.
The
15
international-level
award
winner
pointed
out
that
this
had
also
set
in
mediocrity
and
a
lot
of
'non-talent'
had
arrived.
Mr
Barua
said
liberalisation
had
brought
in
'corporatisation',
which
had
changed
the
look
of
the
mainstream
movies.
He
claimed
that
the
heroine's
image
had
been
hit
the
hardest
by
this
concept
with
the
heroine
taking
over
the
vamp's
role,
as
it
made
more
economic
sense
to
the
producers.
Quoting
film
critic
Ajit
Duara,
Mr
Barua
said
the
success
of
Murder
and
Mallika
Sherawat
led
to
a
glut
of
films
like
Girlfriend,
Julie
and
Zeher,
which
saw
the
marketing
of
the
heroine
as
'commodities'.
Mr
Barua
opined
that
the
current
bunch
of
heroines,
starting
their
careers
as
models
might
have
fanned
the
phenomenon
as
these
girls
were
trained
in
a
profession
where
'creation
of
icons'
is
the
primary
target.
Elaborating
on
the
negative
side
of
the
liberalisation
of
Indian
cinema,
the
director
said
subjects
or
stories
were
being
given
the
least
importance.
''The
most
interesting
effect
is
in
how
it
has
transformed
the
traditional
story
telling
into
something
that
is
mostly
borrowed
from
the
West,''
he
added.
While
appreciating
the
technological
advances
film
making
has
seen
over
the
years,
Mr
Barua
said
if
ripped
of
its
technological
gimmicks,
most
films
of
the
present
lot
would
have
no
base
at
all.
He
said
funding
of
films
had
become
easier
now
but
'frequently
the
source
is
obscure
and
there
are
many
vested
interests
involved'.
He
also
lamented
that
organisations
like
NFDC
and
CFSI
were
not
getting
adequate
funding,
due
to
which
quality
films
were
not
being
promoted.
On
the
regional
cinema
scene,
Mr
Barua,
who
has
to
his
credit
10
Assamese
films,
said
the
condition
was
pathetic.
It
was
more
so
for
Assamese,
Manipuri,
Oriya,
Kannada
or
Bengali
films
compared
to
Hindi,
Tamil
or
Telegu
films
as
'it
has
become
a
question
of
survival
not
a
new
trend'.
Mr
Barua
lamented
the
fact
that
there
was
'hardly
any
new
trend
in
our
cinema'.
He
said
there
were
only
some
haphazard
changes
in
contemporary
cinema,
which
have
proved
to
be
too
short
lived
and
purposeless.
Mr
Barua
called
for
discussions
on
the
current
scenerio
of
Indian
films
and
asked
the
audience
to
discard
films
which
failed
to
portray
society
properly.