January 23 was a Bada Din for the RPG controlled music and film company Gramophone Company of India Ltd (GCIL). Its first fully produced feature film, Bada Din opened yesterday to a packed house in GCIL's home turf, Calcutta, which is also the setting of the film.
Produced by Gramco Films, the film division of GCIL, the film is directed by Bengal's new generation heartthrob Anjan Dutt, an actor and singer in his own right. The cast is quite a packet: Shabana Azmi, together with supermodel Marc Robinson (who makes his debut, and an impressive one at that too),Tara Deshpande and new-comer Abhay Chopra.
With Bada Din now hitting the silver screen, Gramco has also lined up two new releases. It is producing an Indo-Bangladesh venture in Bengali, titled Hathat Brishti, being directed by celebrated filmmaker Basu Chatterjee and another hard-hitting Hindi film, 'Godmother', directed by Vinay Shukla, with Shabana Azmi in the title role. The Bengali film is slated for an April release.
Gramco's entry into cinema production, originally planned as a synergistic move to get the music rights for the films, is proving to be a big boost to mainstream serious cinema. Says Shabana Azmi: "While films with some commercial element like songs can attract corporates to produce good cinema, later on they can go on to produce wholly serious cinema as well. But it is important that they are convinced that it would not be a losing proposition from the word go."
She said the entry of corporates like Plus Channel, Gramco and Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Ltd (ABCL) had had a positive impact in the making of wholesome cinema. Anjan Dutt, the director, says the film by Gramco also underscores the fact that Calcutta is a national film-making centre and need not be just a regional film hub. "It was the home of New Theatres in the earlier years. This is a move to decentralise film production."
Gramco, which launched the film only in Calcutta yesterday, in only one theatre, would thereafter take it to Mumbai and Delhi and later to smaller cities like Pune and Goa. "We cannot launch the film simultaneously all over the country," a Gramco executive said. The music for Bada Din has been composed by hit-makers Jatin-Lalit, with lyrics by Javed Akhtar and cinematography by Sudeep Chatterjee.
Says Dutt: "The film required a fresh cast, for which I was very keen on Marc Robinson and Tara Deshpande. Besides, it was also a dream to work with Shabana Azmi." Dutt has already lined up his next directorial venture -- a film with Jackie Shroff and Aparna Sen in the lead, also set in Calcutta.
Robinson feels that the film started off as an off-beat movie, very different from the usual masala movies so prevalent in Mumbai today, but as the movie progressed, some masala elements found its way in. "But on the whole, Bada Din is not one of the run-of-the-mill Bollywood potboilers," said Robinson.
