Mumbai: The film industry in the pursuit of box office collections has not concentrated on good content or storytelling. Today’s audience’s thanks to the surge of OTT platforms and exposure to all kinds of content and especially regional has become choosy and not taking to Hindi films in a big way.
Sudhanshu Rai is an Indian film director, actor and storyteller. Rai made his acting and directorial debut in 2021 with Chaipatti, which premiered on YouTube and subsequently released on OTT platforms Disney+ Hotstar and MX Player. A year later in 2022, he released his first web series Detective Boomrah wherein he was the director and also the lead actor
Indiantelevision.com caught up with the filmmaker to know more about the art of storytelling and box office
‘Kahaniyaan,’ has successfully completed the first season. ‘Chaipatti’ on ISHQ 104.8 FM, which is Rai’s first production, has garnered rave reviews and positive feedback across video and OTT platforms like Disney+ Hotstar, MX Player and YouTube.
On advice for aspiring filmmakers and storytellers who are creating work both commercially viable and artistically meaningful
The fundamental elements of any story are imagination and observation. It is the culmination of one’s keen observation and boundless imagination that eventually translates into stories. Once you start writing your observations, they get interspersed with your thoughts and understanding, thereby giving it the shape of a story. While this helps in weaving the story forward, it also helps you in ascertaining the shortcomings as well as strength. Instead of opting for various professional and theoretical courses, one needs to first make a start themselves.
The same goes for storytellers as well as the filmmakers, for the key here too is to make a start, even if it is a small beginning. You may start with something small like a YouTube video or short film with friends. A smartphone is enough to make this a reality, provided you have a captivating storyline and a unique concept that relates to the audience in place. Instead of waiting for the right opportunity, or even the right investor, one can start small, and keep on polishing their skills.
In order to make any form of art – storytelling or filmmaking – commercially viable, the pre-requisite is a certain level of experience. When you take the commercial route, you need to get associated with professionals, who cannot be managed or whose full potential cannot be utilized unless one at the helm of affairs has the basic knowledge & experience. Lack of experience acts as an impediment to great teamwork, and thus prevents you from the desired or envisioned product. Therefore, my foremost advice to aspiring filmmakers and storytellers is to take the first step, and initiate their vision at whatever level possible, for it is rightly said – well begun is half done!
On the belief that there is a tension between box office success and good storytelling
Box office runs on commercial success, where the number of tickets sold equate to the money earned by the film. So, to cash in on this factor, filmmakers have traditionally been packaging similar storyline and concepts in different packages with different actors. It did lead to commercial success, but the old method does not work with today’s audience. This is why newer genres, new storylines are being experimented with. I am a storyteller and a filmmaker and I have realised the changing taste of the audience when it comes to stories. Thrillers and haunted stories for instance are being lapped up by listeners of late.
While filmmaking is nearly 127 odd years old, the art of storytelling is considered as ancient as humankind. The only difference being that the traditional art passed through generations is now at a pinnacle, like never before. Best storytellers in India today are giving an experience to their listeners, no less than a cinema or even concert. Supported by sound effects, ambient music, orchestrated lighting and voice modulations, it almost feels like a film without visuals playing before your senses. As a filmmaker too, I derive heavily from my storytelling experiences. I have realised that just like storytelling innovates every day, we need newer stories to enthral the audience, and filmmakers too need to evolve and experiment with variety, unlike the past.
It is often said that storytelling is the core of filmmaking. Hence, the need is to build a film on the foundation of a strong story, and only then can we get the best of both worlds. There is definitely no tension between the two as the two are interspersed.
On telling a good story or making money
Without a second thought, both are equally important. In fact I would reiterate here that the most important thing is to take the first step, at whatever level feasible for one. And almost equally important is to ensure the commercial viability of it because it is not easy to take your stories to larger audiences in the paucity of money or resources. Once your first step is a commercial success, you will get the resources to bring more stories to the audience. Making a film is a time consuming process, right from conceiving it to presenting a story, the production and the post production. And every stage needs money. Thus, commercial success frees you from many shackles, as you need money to present a good story too. However, just like the Hippocratic Oath for doctors, it is sacrosanct for a storyteller to tell a good story. One can never compromise on the same. And this is what differentiates one film from another.
On the importance of originality and experimentation in filmmaking
Originality and experimentation always ensure that you are different from the league, and en route successful feats. If we look at it traditionally, all filmmakers considered iconic have stood out of the crowd solely because of their uniqueness and storytelling prowess. Films made decades ago continue to entice and amaze large sections of the audience even today. They get pretty much the same adulation and appreciation that they received several years ago. I would like to mention the name of Steven Spielberg here, who is no less than extraordinary owing to completely distinct concepts and style of filmmaking. In India too, we have had talented directors such as Sriram Raghavan, who has delivered films like Andhadhun and Ek Hasina Thi, which performed well because of novel concepts and powerful performances. To sum it up, it is the elements of originality and experimentation that differentiates a successful filmmaker from the other.
For instance, our previous streaming releases Chaipatti, Chintaa Mani or Detective Boomrah are anything but cinema with run-of-the-mill storylines. They present novel concepts in a manner that strikes a chord with the audience. Our upcoming Bollywood sci-fi thriller, directed by Puneet Sharma, too is based on a never-seen-before storyline. The actors in the film, including myself, Sourabh Raaj Jain, Hiten Tejwani, Shobhit Sujay and Manisha Sharma, are portraying characters distinct from almost all our previous performances. The factor of novelty continues to rule the roost.
On today’s Regional cinema producing good content at 1/10th the price and making profit in the box office
The prime reason for the success of regional films is that they never dilute the local flavour in their storylines and films. Also, the filmmakers in regional industries always take into account the preferences, expectations and liking of the masses. In fact, the mainstream Bollywood filmmakers need to take a cue from them and ensure that the aspect of the masses is not ignored, for they are the ones that actually organically connect a film to the audience. Probably, some of the new-age filmmakers have realized the same and hence making attempts to capture the ethnicity and culture of different regions, thereby delivering some successful releases of late.
Furthermore, the regional stars and superstars share a personal connection and rapport with the audience at large. If any of the current leading men from Bollywood are cast in, say a Bhojpuri, Telugu or Kannada film, it might fail to correspondingly resonate with the audience. But the results are completely different when the viewers watch their ‘own’ heroes on the screen.
So, when it comes to making more profitable films, we need new storytellers, more precisely, new age storytellers. Filmmakers can no longer afford to play safe. They are continuing to play safe and hence not being able to probably keep pace with time.
