The Mumbai movie industry works with safe narrative templates. It rarely, if ever, tells real stories that are crying out to be told. As a norm, it opts instead for saleable feel-good yarns or crowd-pleasing thrillers aimed at maximizing box office returns.
It is therefore never easy for a Hindi film director working within the mainstream parameters of the industry to take up uncomfortable themes.
The challenge is two-fold. One, producers do not see ‘activist’ films as commercially viable. And two, the multiplex audience usually views with suspicion any film that contains a ‘message. . .