Movies have been a major source of entertainment ever since Thomas Edison and his assistant Dickson saved many a bored soul from a bleak future by inventing the motion picture camera. Ever since, films have been a staple of culture, lifestyle and history. With the primary focus of these reel stories being entertainment, genres and sub-genres keep growing and fading away as people's tastes and preferences change. But an all-time favourite is the biopic.
Biopics, or biographical pictures, portraying a real-life person on screen, score in the eyes of the audience because of the impressive tales of grit, guts and glory they tell. Hollywood has always been working on this category and now Indian cinema is also recognising this as a crowd-puller. 'Manjhi — The Mountain Man', 'Paan Singh Tomar', 'Mangal Pandey — The Rising', 'Sarbjit', 'Azhar', 'Mary Kom', 'Neerja', 'The Dirty Picture' and 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' are some titles from this ever-increasing list; the latest addition to which has been 'M S Dhoni - The Untold Story' which has been having a dream run at the box office.
What is it about biopics that commands such fascination from everyone? It may have something to do with our fascination with celebrities, according to Farhan S, an avid movie buff. "We adore our celebrities and want to know more about them. But movies made on common people have been quite successful too. That would be because of their inspirational undertones. Ultimately, we all love a 'rags-to-riches' story," she says.
Soma Bhattacharjee, an advertising professional, agrees. Mostly preferring to watch only biopics, Soma says it is because these films make you think. "I recently watched 'Sully' and it was great. It was a unique take on biopics because the focus was on the person's experience and not on the individual himself. That's the thing about biopics. They show you the different ways in which great characters handle situations, acts that make them what they are. It makes you curious, it opens up your mind and that is what makes this genre unique," she elaborates.
But while biopics do serve the important purpose of educating the audience about legends, they are also subject to a lot of criticism from viewers and critics alike. This is primarily because mainstream cinema has generally relied on hearsay, gossip and folklore to tell biographical stories and there has been less reliance on authentic records and facts. Hindi cinema, in particular, has specific requirements of structure, time and reality. The stories are alienated from history to fit this mould and facts may be subsumed for the bizarre to narrate the story in an interesting way.
Says Rajat Ubhaykar, a professional, "I think biopics in India have never cared about historical accuracy and have always been borderline hagiographies. Appropriate dramatisation aimed at alluring the masses has always been the primary motive behind making biopics. I've never expected much from biopics and hence haven't been disappointed."
Amalraj V, a budding filmmaker, says, "A lot of biopics have created controversies with claims about inaccuracy, wrongful depiction or fabrication of events being levelled against the makers. This could be because of agendas, the political atmosphere of that place, commercial factors and so on. Like how Ravi Shastri complained against 'Azhar' and Mark Zuckerberg trashed 'The Social Network'. In addition, casting becomes a problem as films are heavily star-based. Stars loom larger than the characters they portray."
Bouquets and brickbats aside, there is no denying that this category is here to stay. Education or entertainment, truth or gossip, scandal or motivation — the viewer is free to take his pick.
Roshini Suparna Diwakar, a social science researcher, says, "The biopics I usually watch are on subjects I don't engage with on a regular basis. So, films like 'A Beautiful Mind', 'The King's Speech' or 'The Pursuit of Happyness' have been both entertaining and educational. Having said that, I also think it's important to take these films with a pinch of salt in terms of accurate representation of the subject. These types of biopics act like a springboard for me to delve into topics if they whet my curiosity."
Movies have been a major source of entertainment ever since Thomas Edison and his assistant Dickson saved many a bored soul from a bleak future by inventing the motion picture camera. Ever since, films have been a staple of culture, lifestyle and history. With the primary focus of these reel stories being entertainment, genres and sub-genres keep growing and fading away as people’s tastes and preferences change. But an all-time favourite is the biopic.
Biopics, or biographical pictures, portraying a real-life person on screen, score in the eyes of the audience because of the impressive tales of grit, guts and glory they tell. Hollywood has always been working on this category and now Indian cinema is also recognising this as a crowd-puller. 'Manjhi — The Mountain Man’, 'Paan Singh Tomar’, 'Mangal Pandey — The Rising’, 'Sarbjit’, 'Azhar’, 'Mary Kom’, 'Neerja’, 'The Dirty Picture’ and 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ are some titles from this ever-increasing list; the latest addition to which has been 'M S Dhoni - The Untold Story’ which has been having a dream run at the box office.
What is it about biopics that commands such fascination from everyone? It may have something to do with our fascination with celebrities, according to Farhan S, an avid movie buff. "We adore our celebrities and want to know more about them. But movies made on common people have been quite successful too. That would be because of their inspirational undertones. Ultimately, we all love a 'rags-to-riches’ story,” she says.
Soma Bhattacharjee, an advertising professional, agrees. Mostly preferring to watch only biopics, Soma says it is because these films make you think. "I recently watched 'Sully’ and it was great. It was a unique take on biopics because the focus was on the person’s experience and not on the individual himself. That’s the thing about biopics. They show you the different ways in which great characters handle situations, acts that make them what they are. It makes you curious, it opens up your mind and that is what makes this genre unique,” she elaborates.
But while biopics do serve the important purpose of educating the audience about legends, they are also subject to a lot of criticism from viewers and critics alike. This is primarily because mainstream cinema has generally relied on hearsay, gossip and folklore to tell biographical stories and there has been less reliance on authentic records and facts. Hindi cinema, in particular, has specific requirements of structure, time and reality. The stories are alienated from history to fit this mould and facts may be subsumed for the bizarre to narrate the story in an interesting way.
Says Rajat Ubhaykar, a professional, "I think biopics in India have never cared about historical accuracy and have always been borderline hagiographies. Appropriate dramatisation aimed at alluring the masses has always been the primary motive behind making biopics. I’ve never expected much from biopics and hence haven’t been disappointed.”
Amalraj V, a budding filmmaker, says, "A lot of biopics have created controversies with claims about inaccuracy, wrongful depiction or fabrication of events being levelled against the makers. This could be because of agendas, the political atmosphere of that place, commercial factors and so on. Like how Ravi Shastri complained against 'Azhar’ and Mark Zuckerberg trashed 'The Social Network’. In addition, casting becomes a problem as films are heavily star-based. Stars loom larger than the characters they portray.”
Bouquets and brickbats aside, there is no denying that this category is here to stay. Education or entertainment, truth or gossip, scandal or motivation — the viewer is free to take his pick.
Roshini Suparna Diwakar, a social science researcher, says, "The biopics I usually watch are on subjects I don’t engage with on a regular basis. So, films like 'A Beautiful Mind’, 'The King’s Speech’ or 'The Pursuit of Happyness’ have been both entertaining and educational. Having said that, I also think it’s important to take these films with a pinch of salt in terms of accurate representation of the subject. These types of biopics act like a springboard for me to delve into topics if they whet my curiosity.”