Sunny Leone, Sanjay Dutt and Now Shakeela -- Are Bollywood Filmmakers Deliberately Cashing in On Controversial Celebs For Biopics?
Many Bollywood filmmakers have made biopics on some controversial figures in the recent times and it is interesting to note that most of their portrayal seems like a image makeover exercise.
Richa Chaddha and Pankaj Tripathi are set to star in the southern star Shakeela's biopic. The film is directed by Indrajit Lankesh and based on the life of the Malayalam film actress Shakeela who has worked in several films in South India. The movie will be an addition to a list of biopics Bollywood has recently made, latest of which was Sanju based on actor Sanjay Dutt. The film was widely appreciated for the performances by its actors, especially Ranbir Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal. But the storyline of Sanju received mixed responses from the audience and critics.
It is notable that many of Bollywood's tryst with biopics have involved controversial figures. To name a few recent ones - Sanju on Sanjay Dutt, Daddy based on Arun Gawli, Azhar on Mohammad Azharuddin and Haseena Parkar based on Haseena Parkar. And the treatment of their subjects in the films have been focused on portraying these characters in a relatable manner. Also, Zee5 app recently launched a web-series like documentation of the life of former pron star Sunny Leone called Karenjit Kaur: The Untold Story of Sunny Leone.
All of these films treated their protagonist in a way that they could somewhere create an empathetic image of them in the public eye. Let us first take an individual look at some of these films.
Sanju, for the most part of it shows how Sanjay Dutt despite his drug problem, short-temper and drinking habits was indeed a loving son and friend, and an overall good guy. The film portrayed him as a victim of media trials who had been wrongly labelled as a terrorist by some media groups. It is true that Sanjay was eventually absolved of TADA charges. But he was found guilty of possessing a gun illegally, for which he served a jail term. He also has waged a public battle with drug problems.
The media may have exaggerated some of the facts, but the film blatantly attempts to whitewash his image. The blame for the actor's downfall was squarely placed on the media in film, and a song in the end "Baba Bolta Hai", conveyed how media has always wrongly targetted Sanjay.
Azhar, starring Emraan Hashmi is based on the life of cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin. The cricketer was banned by BCCI for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal. The actor's personal life has also been controversial. But the film plays on the sentiments of the viewer, trying to depict him in a good light and how he became the victim of a scandal. Similarly, Daddy based on gangster Arun Gawli's life shows a more humane side of him.
Karenjit Kaur: The Untold Story of Sunny Leone also seems like attempt to clean up Sunny Leone's image who entered the porn industry at a young age. Through the ten episodes of the show, it depicts how Sunny belongs to a loving and respectable Sikh family but due to circumstances and an urge to live a certain standard of life she chose to do adult films.
These films have all attempted to create a certain amount of empathy in the hearts of the people for the protagonists. But, one may argue that there is always a positive side to characters, it can also not be denied that a larger than life portrayal of figures such as Sanjay Dutt also tends to leave the audience with half-truths or misinformation. Interestingly, filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma has also claimed that Sanju doesn't show the full truth and he will be making a biopic closer to Dutt's actual life story.
On the other hand, Bollywood has also made biopics on inspiring personalities. Some of the recent biopics like Neerja, Dangal, Mary Kom, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag told stories of brave, and successful personalities whose lives are an inspiration for many.
More and more celeb biopics movies have been made on controversial figures, making us wonder whether it is a deliberate PR exercise to whitewash their bad image. But thankfully, they have also introduced a different genre to Bollywood industry which has traditionally been dominated by romance, comedy and action. Also, they have a lot of entertainment value to it. But, on the flip side, we can argue that it is better to introduce lesser-known heroes like Neerja Bhanot (Neerja) and the Phogat sisters (Dangal) to the audience. And their stories have an equal amount of entertainment value, emotions as well as positive PR value. What is your take? Tell us in the comments section.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 31, 2018 06:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).