http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/12/17/stories/2006121700150500.htm
CINEMA
Bollywood goes global
NILOSREE BISWAS
An out-of-the-box idea filmed on documentary lines shot in a
conflict-ridden country, Kabir Khan's "Kabul Express" breaks new
ground in Indian filmmaking.
The most striking difference in "Kabul Express" is that it's largely
based on the director's experiences.
The true story genre: From left: John Abraham, filmmaker Kabir Khan
and Arshad Warsi on location in Afghanistan.
AS "Kabul Express" hits the screen on December 15, it will mark a
significant turn in the history of mainstream cinema. There are
several firsts about "Kabul Express", the foremost one being that it
is a contemporary story turned into a movie. "Kabul Express" joins
movies like "Tora Tora Tora", "Towering Inferno", "Pelican Brief",
"Day of the Jackal", which were based on true stories.
However, Indian cinema never gave much importance to the "true story"
genre. On the contrary, it used the silver screen as a canvas of
flowery imagination, though films like "Chandni Bar", "Corporate",
"Satya" or "Company" dealt with the world of flesh trade, dancing
bars, corporate and the human face of the underworld. Though the
makers grounded these films in reality, they cannot be categorised as
true stories.
The most striking difference in "Kabul Express" is that it's largely
based on the director's experiences. In an interview, Kabir Khan
confessed, "I wanted the characters to be natural. I think that comes
from my background in documentary filmmaking". Thus, "Kabul Express"
is a result of a realistic _expression_ on film largely built on
personal preferences to unravel the truth of a conflict-ridden
country.
Focus on Afghanistan
Apart from director Kabir's experiences, "Kabul Express" is also a
take off on the media's interest in Afghanistan's post-Taliban regime.
That Afghanistan became a melting pot of global news is hardcore news
in itself; the global media recorded every moment of Afghanistan.
"Kabul Express" therefore will become a significant landmark in
promoting flicks that have substantially been indebted to the news
media.
What needs to be tested is how the crosscurrents of real politics,
media and human interest work in the film. The director, in fact, had
looked objectively into the role of an all-pervasive media with little
empathy towards the glorified Afghan. But that is not the sole point
of discussion.
The crucial factor that has significantly worked in the film's favour
is the banner that produced it. Yashraj Films is one of the most
important producers in the country and has over the years churned out
commercially successful and elegant films on the man-woman
relationship. In the last two decades, the banner has enthralled
audiences with films that epitomise romance. Even if social reality
and conflict had a role, they were merely backdrops as in "Fanna".
"Kabul Express", therefore, would be an important film for the banner.
Though Yash Chopra directed films like "Dhool ka Phool",
"Dharamputra", "Aadmi aur Insaan", "Kala Patthar", "Mashaal", which
had strong socio-cultural biases, the banner never deviated from its
niche of romantic films from the first film it produced "Yeh Dillagi"
in 1994.
Marking a change
