Revolutionary leaders or their forerunners are those who have the audacity to deviate from the accepted norm. And they possess the bravery to confront situations that could result in tragedies or triumphs. But fighting and dying is preferable to not fighting at all. These brave individuals have impacted the film industry with their bizarre but inspirational work. Let’s take a look at some daring directors and their endeavours that defied expectations and engaged in unprecedented experimentation with the medium.
1. Ship of Theseus (2012)
One of the most impactful films to have been released recently is Anand Gandhi’s. It introduced us to Bollywood, a different cinematic universe.’What constitutes a person?’ is the film’s central paradox. Is it merely the product of its component parts, or is it a dynamic process? It is full of intriguing, out-of-the-box characters, including an atheist monk, a blind photographer, and an investment broker who wants to make amends.The movie has a strong Indian aesthetic with an undercurrent of European style. Anand Gandhi, a writer and director, beautifully combined Indian sensibilities with European style to make Indian cinema approachable to film enthusiasts worldwide(Tidbit: Anurag Kashyap’s daughter who was around 8-9 at the time watched the entire film in one sitting, without any background score).
2. Badlapur (2015)
Badlapur by Sriram Raghavan is among the best case studies in filmmaking. It was the equivalent of Breaking Bad in India, in which the audience is asked by a morally deranged protagonist who they should really be rooting for.Raghavan fundamentally altered the protagonist/antagonist relationship. The way that Nawaz and Varun handled issues of complicated identities and brutality in a harsh world was very convincing. This movie questioned our sympathy for the protagonist in today’s cinema, where we anticipate him to act perfectly righteously.
3. Kaun (1999)
The author-director team With the understated Kaun, Anurag Kashyap-Ram Gopal Verma explored the serial killer subgenre. Although it wasn’t a big hit initially, it has grown incredibly popular over time.Ram Gopal Verma did a respectable job of executing a Hitchcockian thriller. At the same time, Urmila Matondkar was menacing and vulnerable. The screenplay wasn’t hampered by superfluous songs or romantic scenes because the story kept viewers guessing the entire time. This was at a time when it was practically against the law to make films without the customary song-and-dance routine and masala.
4. Pushpak (1987)
One of India’s most versatile directors is Singeetam Srinivas Rao, a two-time National Award winner. It’s too bad Bollywood was never open to his talent and ideas.India’s first full-length silent feature film is available here. You read it correctly! The movie was released in a number of Indian languages, which increased its audience. With screenings at the Cannes and Shanghai Film Festivals at the time, Pushpak even attained international recognition.With the talented Kamal Hassan at his finest, the screenplay is humorous and endearing. Take their conversation on the balcony between Kamal and Amala as an example. The execution is excellent, and the concept is brilliant.
5. Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010)
The inventive storytelling in Dibakar Bannerjee’s gritty drama both piqued our interest and made us uncomfortable. While the typical viewer probably anticipated raunch and sleaze, Dibakar avoided the typical portrayal of sex in favour of the firmly established plot.We hadn’t seen anything like the film’s three distinct stories and Pulp Fiction-like structure before. Here, the cinematography was crucial. A film school student’s hand-held camera was used exclusively to shoot the first story. The second utilising only the department store’s security cameras. And the third with a spy camera, a device used by reporters on undercover missions.It was admirable that Dibakar and producer Ekta tried to make a film that defied every rule of conventional Indian cinema.