When Pawan Singh compared a woman바카라s torso to a lollipop, and the woman to a potato chop and ice cream, little would he have expected that the song would become a cross-regional earworm, dominating phone ringtones and inspiring rock, acoustic and violin covers. The track resonated on the internet and has almost become synonymous with Bhojpuri outside Bihar. Pawan바카라s Lollipop Lagelu is not an anomaly. In a film and music industry where the exposition of booty and fetishised bulge is prioritised over plot, the catchy song is just one of the hundreds of its ilk.
Despite the uptick in Bhojpuri cinema since the mid-noughties, there바카라s little to differentiate the films바카라they brim with sleaze and women merely serve as props to be harassed or seduced. While not quite the hallmark of the industry, obscenity is rife and gets maximum attention.
It is an association that many Biharis bemoan and seek to undo. One of them is 27-year-old Rahul K. Singh, a Mumbai-based filmmaker who hails from Patna. He is part of a nascent indie scene where auteurs experiment with cinematic language to share stories of their homeland. Rahul바카라s 15-minute short film Breathe is the story of an academically promising teenager beset by angst and incertitude about where his life is headed.
Breathe (2018)
While it might not have the technical finesse of a big-budget film, the poignant narrative and heartfelt acting give it substance. Rahul was overwhelmed by the reception his debut got. 바카라At the screening in Kalidas Rangalaya (Patna바카라s premier cultural centre), more than 140 people came. The seating capacity of the theatre is around 70, so we televised the film twice. Even the Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi praised it.바카라 In the Jharkhand International Film Festival Awards 2018, Breathe was selected as the Best Bhojpuri Short Film.
But how does an independent filmmaker manage to garner the resources to make a movie? 바카라Breathe is pretty much a zero-budget film. I was the scriptwriter, director and editor, but the actors chipped in as technicians too. I shot the film in and around my house and served the crew home-cooked food.바카라 Rahul sought out actors at Kalidas Rangalaya, but found the lead of his film, Ujjwal Srivastava, on YouTube. Ujjwal is a YouTube prank video vlogger whose channel Viral Kalakar has, over the years, amassed 85,000 subscribers.
Like Rahul, other filmmakers are foraying into cinema in the languages of Bihar. Bhojpuri is often faultily presumed to be the state바카라s standard lingo by non-Biharis. It is, of course, only one from a rich linguistic pool바카라Maithili, Magahi, Vajjika and Angika, all with millions of speakers. Besides, people in eastern UP speak Bhojpuri as well. However, you are unlikely to see independent films in these vernaculars at a theatre near you. The indie scene is largely confined to YouTube, with the occasional screening at niche festivals.
Kavi Kalpana (2018)
YouTube channels of organisations like Puruaa Bhojpuri and Mithila Darshan feature some of these films. 바카라We started Puruaa about two years ago to promote Bhojpuri language and culture,바카라 says Dhananjay Tiwari, the founder of the organisation. 바카라It바카라s a collective with 300 members from India as well as the US and Australia.바카라 Their YouTube channel, which features 68 short films, music videos and folk songs, has a cumulative 1.28 million views. They also organise cultural events and bring out publications. 바카라Big producers don바카라t want to fund the kind of films we make, so we work on a crowdfunding model,바카라 Dhananjay explains. 바카라Our members contribute a certain sum every year, which we use for our films and other projects.바카라
Mithila Darshan바카라s YouTube channel may be relatively modest in terms of the number of videos uploaded and views raked, but it has a rich legacy. 바카라My parents established Mithila Darshan in 1954 to champion Maithili. Till today, we produce an eponymous bimonthly magazine,바카라 says Ajay Singh, a retired professional, who runs the organisation with his brother, Professor Udaya Singh, and a small team based in Calcutta.
The short films on their channel are perhaps the first independent films from Bihar. 바카라After Maithili was constitutionally recognised as a language under the Eight Schedule, we decided to make a TV serial in it,바카라 he says. 바카라I wrote a script based on a play my brother had authored. The show, Nain Na Tirpit Bhel had 78 episodes, which were screened on Doordarshan between February 2008 and August 2009. Inspired by the reception it got, we decided to make short films.바카라 They produced four shorts using the ad revenue generated from their magazine. Each cost Rs 50,000 on average. For post-production, the brothers took the help of their contacts in Tollywood; they had grown up in Calcutta. 바카라Earlier, there weren바카라t many platforms to screen films, but technology has changed everything. We have uploaded two of the short films, Gorki and Kaniya Kaki, on YouTube and a couple of music videos. We are currently digitising the rest of our visual content.바카라
Kaniya kaki (published on YouTube in 2019)
While YouTube has provided an audience to these filmmakers, money is not as forthcoming. 바카라Most Bhojpuri producers are from Mumbai and Delhi and have no connect with the language,바카라 says Ujjwal Pandey, who runs Apni Industry Apna Cinema, an initiative to promote a homegrown film industry in Varanasi. 바카라The production of Bhojpuri films largely happens outside the region and in fact, on many sets, the crew converses in Marathi! The producers just know one formula바카라skin show.바카라 Ujjwal got in touch with producers to fund his films, but it was a futile attempt. 바카라They wanted to see if my films would be successful. So, after I directed Kohbar, a short film that got over 360,000 views on YouTube, they asked me to make a feature film before they could take the risk.바카라
Video-streaming platforms do not provide a sustainable revenue stream either. 바카라Despite millions of views, I get only about $100 every 4-5 months. I take up commercial projects in Delhi and Mumbai and use that money for my films,바카라 says Ujjwal. Despite the lack of funding, Ujjwal is undaunted. 바카라I made Kohbar on a budget of Rs 650,바카라 he declares. 바카라The actor바카라s wedding headdress cost Rs 200 and the taxi from Varanasi to Kaithi, where we shot the film, cost Rs 450. I cast village residents in the film along with actors.바카라
Kohbar is set in a kohbar, the wedding chamber where rituals are conducted. It received plaudits on YouTube. Even actor Manoj Bajpayee praised it. 바카라The film is an excellent depiction of Bhojpuri society and village life. What I like most about it is how the woman lead speaks her mind,바카라 he remarked in a promotional video. Kohbar바카라s success encouraged Ujjwal to turn it into a feature-length film, for which he raised about Rs 40,000 through crowdfunding. The shoot of the film was largely complete, but the demise of the lead, Manisha Rai, in a road accident stalled production.
Bhent (awaiting release)
While there is an attempt to break away from the hackneyed tropes of mainstream Bhojpuri cinema, a film바카라s indie status does not necessarily mean quality. Some have a surfeit of melodrama and cringey acting, while others flounder with paper-thin plots. Technical aspects such as sound and lighting are often awry. But common among all is an earnestness in filmmaking and a desire to explore stories in the mother tongue.
Another common sentiment among the indie auteurs is the irritation with the regressive depiction of women in mainstream Bhojpuri cinema. 바카라Take a sensual Hindi song like Labon ko labon pe sajao,바카라 says Rahul. 바카라If it were made in the Bhojpuri industry, it would probably be on the lines of munh ko munh mein daal.바카라 The cleft between commercial and alternate cinema is massive바카라none of the filmmakers interviewed for this story had anything positive to say about the former. 바카라There바카라s obscenity in Bollywood as well,바카라 says Ujjwal, 바카라but it is usually restricted to B-grade films. Besides, they produce good movies too. In Bhojpuri, however, the entire industry just makes B-grade films.바카라
To promote alternate cinema from Bihar, the Maithili-Bhojpuri Academy organised a 바카라Mini Bhojpuri Film Festival바카라 in Delhi in March 2019. Along with Kohbar and Breathe, the event featured the films Lalka Gulab, Daan, Kavi Kalpana and Bhent. Kavi Kalpana is a Maithili film featuring a caricaturish poet who wants to write his masterpiece on 바카라the mystery that is woman바카라. On a holiday at a beach, he gleefully holds forth on a woman바카라s qualities, while his exasperated wife stares blankly at the waves. What begins as a predictable rant soon assumes new dimensions once she starts speaking up. Keeping in line with the theme, all the dialogues in the 27-minute film are in rhyme.
Deswa (2011)
On the last day of the festival, indie directors, actors and producers discussed바카라in Bhojpuri바카라the problems plaguing the mainstream industry and the prospects of alternate cinema. Amidst the jubilation, there were dissenting voices too: an audience member interrogated their demonisation of vulgarity, claiming that it was what viewers wanted. 바카라But it바카라s the only thing the audience gets,바카라 replied Amit Jha, the director of the documentary Fulena Nights, which was screened at the festival. 바카라They haven바카라t had the opportunity to see any other kind of Bhojpuri cinema, so it would be presumptuous to think that the audience only wants obscenity.바카라
Another audience member pointed out the lack of quality production in the shorts. The filmmakers responded by invoking the old bugbear바카라lack of funding. Poonam Singh Rathod, one of the actors of Breathe, referenced Lollipop Lagelu while describing the increasing influence of Bihari culture. The mention immediately drew disavowals from the others, who saw it as a symbol of everything wrong with mainstream Bhojpuri cinema.
Plans are afoot to organise another film festival in Mumbai in September this year. But optimism about such cinema is tinged with caution. 바카라While their individual efforts and online viewership are commendable, they still haven바카라t figured out a sustainable model,바카라 says an industry expert. 바카라The situation is bleak, but things might change with government support.바카라 If nothing else, independent cinema might inspire better metaphors than lollipop, potato chop and ice cream.
