Kamal Ghorui
Sitting in Lucknow after a brief visit for a metro festival and a family wedding, noted filmmaker Sudhir Mishra drifts easily between memories of the 1980s and sharp observations on today’s movie ecosystem. In a conversation with Lucknow Times, Mishra reflects on the fading sense of community in Bollywood, the economics strangling theatrical viewing, and how a film unifies the country.‘Earlier, the industry felt like a family’Mishra who is good friends with filmmakers like Anubhav Sinha, Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, among others, has also collaborated with Anubhav Sinha on several projects and also organised premieres of Sinha’s latest film Assi around India. Talking with us, Mishra reflects on how back in the day, the Mumbai film fraternity felt far more supportive and close-knit. “I just see it as someone who’s been around the industry since decades. I’ve been around since 1982–83, when I wrote Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro with Kundan Shah. I recall that time as one of remarkable solidarity within the industry. People were so supportive of Kundan. You could see 20 filmmakers standing by him, all sorts of people, even from the so-called popular industry. We received so much love, everybody coming, talking to each other, encouraging each other.” Mishra cites Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho as another example. “Amjad bhai (the late Amjad Khan) was acting in it, Naseer (Naseeruddin Shah) and all were doing side parts, while the main parts were with Bhisham Sahni and Dina Pathak. They were so supportive of each other. Everyone came, helped with the release, came for the premiere, talked about the film. It really felt more like a family then.”He remembers a time when premieres were truly collective moments. “With Saeed Mirza, Nazir Hussain, Kundan Shah, people like Yash Chopra, Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal, everyone came for movie premieres. I saw big premieres like Mr. India and Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja. They were huge. Everybody was there for them. Yusuf sahab – Dilip Kumar, Feroz Khan, Ketan Mehta. The whole film industry came and watched the film together. There was so much camaraderie between actors, producers, directors. Everyone would be so supportive of each other and they would rally for their colleagues and encourage them.”
Sudhir Mishra and Anubhav Sinha have collaborated on several projects over years
“Now it’s a bit separate,” he admits. “I don’t see that same thing. I think it should be revived because for success we depend on each other. One man’s success will, in a sense, create my success also and so on and so forth.”‘The passion is very much alive’Given this harsh economic environment where ticket prices are so high, budgets shoot the sky, Mishra doesn’t feels the passion for storytelling and filmmaking has reduced, or been replaced more by the question, ‘How much money can I earn from this film?’“You’re talking about some people,” Mishra counters gently, “but it’s not same for every filmmaker. If you notice, a lot of young women have made us proud in international cinema recently.” He rattles off a list of titles. “In the past two, three, four years, if you see a film like Santosh, All We Imagine as Light, Girls Will Be Girls, Rakshabandhu, and a film like Sagar Saavari Bonda, there are so many films. And then the great Malayalam cinema—I can’t even name how many there are. Kerala is a very alive and self‑sufficient cinema ecosystem—an example for us all. This is all cinema made with utmost passion.”“I think the passion exists,” he asserts. “I don’t find any problem with the passion of the filmmakers. I think there is some passion even in producers. Every filmmaker needs good producers and it is that passion among them that is bringing this good cinema.”According to him, the state and systems around cinema need to evolve. “There must be incentives for producers. In a lot of countries there are tax breaks. There are many methodologies by which cinema or the arts can be encouraged. In France, you get money to develop a film, almost to make it and to distribute it.”He returns to his central metaphor. “Cinema is an art form and it is almost like eating or drinking, it’s food for the soul. Whether it’s cinema or poetry or music, if that is lost, what are you going to do? What are you going to make with AI if your mind doesn’t work?”‘Why are you taxing the audience?’The ecosystem today, right from filmmakers to producers, distributors and audience, seems locked in a vicious circle driven by economics—ticket prices, OTT deals, box office pressure. Mishra agrees and says, “I wish ticket prices were capped, just as they are in the South. And I don’t even think there should be any tax on entertainment.”He frames cinema as a public, almost civic, experience. “What are filmmakers, promoters, the whole film industry or exhibitors doing? They’re giving the public a space to come together, a community experience where people laugh, cry, have whatever experience, together. Why should that experience be taxed?”
Mishra talks passionately about the time when film premieres were grand where the whole industry came to support the producer and director. Much like in this photo of Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, Javed Akhtar, Raj Kumar, Anil Kapoor and Vidhu Vinod Chopra at the premier of Boney Kapoor’s Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993)
“If I make money, tax me,” he clarifies. “If I, as a producer or director make money, tax me, I pay income tax! If an exhibitor makes money and puts his tax returns up, tax him. But why are you taxing the audience? Why should they pay more?” he questions. Lower ticket prices, he believes, would have a cascading effect. “Ticket prices coming down would help. The price of coffee or popcorn, yes, popcorn costs double of the ticket, that should be lowered a great deal.”“You should be coming to theatres to watch a film. That’s how it was in the old days,” he says. “You came to theatres to watch a film not to have your pocket emptied. Single screens must be encouraged and they should be totally tax free. If you charge them high commercial electricity rates and such, the business can’t survive. And the cinema business must survive.”‘Theatrical experience is very important for community’For Mishra, theatrical cinema is not a luxury but a cultural necessity. “The theatrical experience is very important for community, for life, for civilization, for local people getting together. We have many national languages and all those languages have their own cinema. They must interact with each other, we must see each other’s films, that’s how we become more unified as a nation. Cinema unifies you. Cinema is a very big binding force for a country,” he urges.He is sharply dismissive of replacing this with fleeting digital trends. “I’m talking about actual filmmakers, not reels and some influencer crap that’s going on. The voice of a writer, director, DOP, sound recordist, the storyteller everyone giving you that larger-than-life experience. Those independent minds putting forward something. Like an old man under a tree, the tradition of storytelling. That must not be lost. It should be independent, come from the mind of the storytellers, not commissioned only.”This, he says, was always India’s strength. “In India we had independent cinema. Even the popular cinema was independent cinema. Someone borrowed money, put his neck on the line and made a film. That is important to continue.” He repeats a demand he’s been making for decades. “I’ve been saying this for 20–25 years that you should give cinema at least a five‑year tax break, totally, everything! Because otherwise it’ll die. You can concentrate on other things and AI and everything else, but just give cinema a break—five years. I think that’s really important. Nobody listens, though. You can keep talking; nobody listens.”
