BetteR than

A radical breed of Indian filmmakers are conquering the global audience with unique and thought-provoking films

BY RAJNI ANAND LUTHRA

Rarely has an independent film raised so much interest in India in the weeks before its official release, but Ship of Theseus, made by filmmaker Anand Gandhi is one such film. The film screened at the recently concluded Sydney Film Festival where it won rave reviews, as it did at the London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Mumbai, Brisbane, Rotterdam and Transylvania Film Festivals. The film is but one of the many new movies making the international circuit and showcasing an immense and untapped well of talent for storytelling, screenplay and acting from the Indian film industry. These are award-winning films that grasp concepts of reality and present them with simplicity, finesse and authenticity that make them tremendously appealing, however, to a larger international market, rather than a domestic one.

New ideas

With one of India’s leading film personalities Kiran Rao presenting the film and a strong online campaign promoting it, Ship of Theseus seems to be the first independent film sailing into the year’s top ten list of many critics, nationally and internationally.

An ‘independent’ film is defined loosely as a non-studio funded film. But that, says filmmaker Ritesh Batra and one of Gandhi’s contemporaries, is outside of India. Within India, according to Batra, an independent film is one that is ‘independent in spirit’.

And Batra should know. His first feature film Dabba (The Lunchbox), won the Viewer’s Choice Award Grand Rail d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

As films ‘independent in spirit’, the Indian audience is likely to classify The Lunchbox and Ship of Theseus in the ‘art’ film category, variously called arthouse, alternate, parallel, sometimes even ‘meaningful’ cinema. This is the kind of cinema that has no commercial trappings – it does not have songs or dances, or even heroes and villains, is low budget, has no stars, might win an award or two, but typically, is the kind that has no takers in terms of a mass audience.

And yet, Ritesh Batra and Anand Gandhi are heralding a new era in Indian cinema, one which is seeing the paradigm shift considerably. Their particular brand of cinema asks more questions than it gives answers, and leaves you thinking long after you’ve left the theatre. Their movies have already won over cinema buffs internationally; so can the domestic market be far behind?

While there is still a long way to go, these films are finally creating furrows in the mindset of an audience that is conditioned to the removed-from-reality and escapism fiction of commercially successful films.

Sailing towards success

Ship of Theseus is a story that interweaves the dilemmas faced by three separate individuals as they grapple with issues of identity and change. A blind photographer who receives a cornea transplant wonders whether her art has changed after her operation. A kidney transplant recipient is consumed by the plight of his anonymous donor. A dying monk refuses medication because he has spent his life fighting against animal testing. In a classic Satyam-Shivam-Sundaram tale, writer-director Gandhi addresses the notions of truth, justice and beauty. The title itself comes from the fabled paradox of Theseus, in which the question is asked, ‘if a ship has each of its parts replaced, is the new ship the same as the original?’

“The idea of the film came to me as I nursed my grandmother in hospital and saw the disease and death around me,” Anand Gandhi revealed, speaking to Indian Link at the sidelines of the Sydney Film Festival. “As the story developed, my own artistic, ethical, social and philosophical struggles defined the struggles of my characters”.

The film was a hit at Toronto last year, with acclaim for its unusual story as well as for its stellar performances, and Kiran Rao got wind of it.

“She made it a point to see it, and loved it,” Gandhi divulged. “We talked about working together, and when I suggested she could present the film, she came on board”.

Having produced a philosophical treat, it is quite surprising to learn that Gandhi actually started off in the industry at 19 as a writer on the TV soaps

Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki. (Another example of the dichotomy that characterises his work, perhaps?) He laughed at the suggestion that at first he gave us trash, but now he wants to make us think.

“In my defense, I was only 19! Look, every artiste wants to reach out to the mass audience. I am glad I got it over with early on!” said Gandhi. “I was just