:: Movies Plus

Creativity finds freedom

Sudeshna Ghosh

Independence" is in many ways the Holy Grail in the film business — something that every filmmaker strives for but can never quite attain.

To be independent in the film business denotes a freedom from something, whether the vicissitudes of the commercial market or the matrix of companies that dominate the production and distribution of motion pictures. Huntz Hall (1919–1999), an actor famous for his appearances in the Bowery Boy B movies of the 1940s, once mused that you can recognise an independent film with a simple test: If the whole set shakes when someone slams a door it’s an independent film. Though reductive and true for only the least ambitious of independent pictures, Hall’s quip hints at the larger budgetary concerns of the vast majority of independent films.

There is a mantra shared by independent directors: "Talk is cheap; action is expensive." When budget considerations loom over a production, it is always cheaper to film two people talking in a room than a car chase or a UFO landing.

Today, due to the large volume of inexpensive, high-end digital film equipment available at the consumer level, independent filmmakers are no longer dependent on major studios to provide them with the tools they need to produce a film. Post production has also been simplified by non-linear editing software available for home computers. Co-financing has become a growing trend in modern day Hollywood, with over two-thirds of the films put out by Warner Bros. in 2000 being funded as joint ventures, up from 10 per cent in 1987.

The increasing popularity and feasibility of low-budget films over the last 15 years has led to a vast increase in the number of aspiring filmmakers — people who have written spec-scripts and who hope to find several million dollars to turn that script into an independent film sensation like Reservoir Dogs, Little Miss Sunshine or Juno. These aspiring filmmakers often work day-jobs while they pitch their scripts to independent film production companies, talent agents, and wealthy investors. Independent movie-making has also resulted in the proliferation and re-popularisation of short films and short film festivals. Full-length films are often showcased at film festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival and the Slamdance Film Festival. Although the concept of independent films is not new to India, the trend is catching up vehemently in the last couple of years. With emergence of a new breed of filmmakers with small-budget films like Bheja Fry, Mixed Doubles, Khosla ka Ghosla, Indian films are breathing afresh.