❖ Abstract

ABSTRACT

Indian cinema and clichés have shared a very strong bond since a long time, be it romantic genre or drama genre. Bollywood movies are full of things that wouldn’t happen in the real-life scenario, same old cliché story plot with flawless stereotypical characters and predictable plots and their perfect lives.

Enter a new generation of film makers, trying to build bridges between the parallel and mainstream, Imtiaz Ali. He is a contemporary Bollywood Director; his genre is romance but the way he portrays is very different from Bollywood clichés. There are no affluent families, huge sets, and extended song and dance sequences in foreign locales irrespective of the setting, high decibel melodrama and a predictable storyline. Ali’s portrayal has not so perfect protagonists going through their internal conflicts and living a basic middle-class life. The actors have subtle acting styles, a mix of Indian and foreign locales as setting, average music but strongly connected to story’s theme and a very unpredictable storytelling style with heavy use of symbols and motifs. This last point is what majorly sets him apart from majority Bollywood directors, as he forces his audience to experiment, think and gauge a situation in their mind rather than spoon-feeding them. He weaves a beautiful tale of love and passion. His films often begin with a bike or a train journey and end on a journey towards self-discovery.