A sudden boom in the Bhojpuri film industry has the Bollywood worried. But as Mudassir Alam tells us, Bhojpuri films have brought alive a new spirit of parallel cinema and are no threat, but a new feather in the cap of diversity of Indian cinema.
UNDOUBTEDLY BOLLYWOOD is the biggest film industry of the world, and Hindi movies are highly appreciated in India and foreign countries as well. Bollywood stars like Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan etc have a large number of fan following across the globe. However, when films like 'Sasura Bada Paisawala', 'Daroga Babu I Love You' and 'Kab Hui Gauna Hamar' became a big hit, these had certainly surprised everyone.
In fact, these films provided a new life to Bhojpuri film industry and today it has become one of the leading regional cinema industries. Presently majority of the people in Bihar like Bhojpuri films and Hindi movies have become second preference for them. Seeing the present situation in Bihar, it has now become a debatable topic, whether the boom in Bhojpuri film industry is a threat for Bollywood or not?
Since the very beginning, Bollywood is considered synonymous with the Indian film industry due to achieving its mark at the international level. But the regional cinema industry, also referred to as Tollywood has maintained its own distinct charm and has constantly been giving a tough fight to Bollywood. For decades, Tamil film industry (South India), Bangla film industry (West Bengal), Marathi film industry (Maharashtra) and many others have flourished in India.
Like other states, Bihar too has its own regional language called Bhojpuri. Despite being spoken in the major portion of the state, Bhojpuri has always remained under the influence of Hindi. When other states were promoting their own language films, Bihar could not represent its own language through a visual media for a long time. The first ever Bhojpuri film 'Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Charaihbo' was made by Vishwanath Shahabadi in 1961. Some more films were made in the decade of 1960 to 1970 namely 'Jekra Charanwa mein lagal paranwa', 'Loha Singh', 'Lage Nahi Chhute Ram', 'Bidesia' and 'Bhauji'.
During the early 1970s, no notable Bhojpuri film was produced, but in 1978, Ashok Jain provided the much-needed recognition to Bhojpuri film with 'Dangal', which celebrated itssilver jubilee. Noted actor Nazir Hussain also made a film 'Balam Pardesia' in the late 1970s. From the start of 1980s, the Bhojpuri film industry entered a new phase and dozens of films were made during 1980 – 90. Some of the popular films made during the decade were 'Bitia Bhail Sayan' , 'Bhaiya Dooj', 'Bairi sawan', ' Bansuriya Baje', 'Chandwa ke take Chakor', 'Dharati Maiyya' , 'Dulha Ganga par ke', Ganga Kinare Mora Gaon', 'Ganga Ghat', 'Ganga Ke Tir', Ganga Mare Laheria, 'Hamar Bhauji', 'Piya Nirmohiya', 'Saiyya Tere Karan', 'Sonwa ke Pinjra' and 'Senur'.
The decade of 1990-2000 was a dark phase for Bhojpuri film industry, as not a single notable film was made during this period. However, the Bhopuri film industry regained its charm in 2005 with a notable film 'Sasura Bada Paisawala.' Basically a sex comedy, the film remains a big hit in Bihar and ran for more than 50 weeks in Varanasi and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Made with a budget of Rs30 lakh, 'Sasura Bada Paisawala' collected a gross earning of Rs15 crore. Hereafter, there was no looking back for the Bhojpuri film industry, today Bhojpuri films are not only popular in Bihar but also in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and other states of India. Actors like Ravi Kishan, Manoj Tiwari are superstars of Bhojpuri film industry and are as popular as Shahrukh Khan. While actresses Nagma and Rambha, who earlier failed to create an impact in Bollywood are doing very well in Bhojpuri cinema.
Presently, the Bhojpuri film industry has become a multi-million industry and even millennium star like Amitabh Bachchan do not hesitate to work in Bhojpuri film. Like films the Bhojpuri songs have also become very popular and given a boom to the music industry alike. More interestingly, in some districts of Bihar the Bhojpuri films have totally masked the popularity of Hindi films. In fact, the theatre owners prefer to screen Bhojpuri films rather than Hindi films as they got more spectators for those films.
These films have provided the Bhojpuri film industry a special recognition and it provides viewers with a variety in India cinema. Today, when most of the Bollywood producers run behind commercial films, Bhojpuri cinema has certainly brought alive the spirit of parallel cinema. Bottom line is that the boom in Bhojpuri film industry is not a threat to Bollywood at all, but a new feather in the cap of diversity of Indian cinema. --
Ranjan Rituraj Sinh , NOIDA
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