October 2009

I have always believed that Bollywood has space for the new talent. Now I know it for sure. For all the familiar directors who have been making movies for the last so many years have no choice left but to give way to the new filmmakers. The new always breathes fresh ideas. The crop of young directors are highly organised with loads of talent. They have carved a niche for themselves in the industry and that too with a loud bang. The most effective new team of directors include Anurag Kashyap, Farhan Akhtar, Abhishek Kapoor, Onir, Sidharth Anand, Imtiaz Ali, Homi Adajania and Ayaan Mukherjee. In the recent few years we have watched some marvellous movies directed by these new filmmakers. The number of audience have also increased rapidly especially the teenagers, it is interesting to see them talking about the movies with a new point of view and above all the contemporary youth relate with the happenings in the films these days. Thanks to the new batch of directors for showing different shades of expressions in their movies. In contemporary Hindi cinema to say that Bollywood is prospering hugely (on the talent front) is no exaggeration. Anurag Kashyap is one such talent, you just can’t ignore. His movie Black Friday is an award winning film about the 1993 Bombay bombing. One of the most remarkable amongst all the films that appeared this year is Dev D. Through this movie, Anurag has shown the complexities of the present day life and has successfully transformed the original Devdas story to Devdas of the present day by creating a new kind of tragic love story. The best thing about this movie is that it doesn’t have a sad ending. It gives us a certain kind of hope. What I like about these directors is that they make their films for everyone and not for a particular section of society. The latest to join the block is Ayaan Mukherji with his maiden directorial venture, Wake Up Sid ! Let’s celebrate their passion for movies by reading about these young personalities in this issue of HUM. And for the Bollywood as a whole, it’s probably good that new kids are on the rise. Enjoy.