Obsession of Bollywood Movies for Biopics in Recent Years

INTRODUCTION

A biographical film, often known as a biopic, is a movie that dramatizes the lives of one or more real-life or historically-based characters. These movies depict a historical figure's life and use the character's real name. They try to fully convey the life story of a single individual, or at least the most significant years of their lives historically, setting them apart from historical drama and docudrama movies. Jean of Arc, or Jeanne d'Arc (Georges Méliès, France, 1900), is perhaps considered the very first biopic. Early in the 20th century, biopics gained popularity among viewers in Europe. Examples of these films were The Private Life of Henry VIII (Alexander Korda, UK, 1933), Napoleon (Abel Gance, France, 1927), Anne Boleyn (Ernst Lubitsch, Germany, 1920), Queen Elizabeth (Henri Desfontaine and Louis Mercanto, France, 1912), and Danton (Dimitri Buchowetski, Germany, 1920). Biopics have honored anti-colonial figures outside of Europe and North America and still do (see Philippines, film in). During the studio era of US film, biopics were a mainstay, with almost 300 films released between 1927 and 1960. Notable works by filmmaker William Dieterle include Juarez (1939), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), and The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936). Films from this era frequently begin in media res and move through flashbacks using a "stages of life" format; early life details frequently foreshadow the activities that person later became well-known for (see plot or story). The disclosure of a private self is one of the genre's main joys, and this form enables the biopic to seamlessly transition between public and private knowledge about the film's subject. Many consider Citizen Kane (Orson Welles) to be one of the greatest movies of all time. It is a biting, evasive portrayal of William Randolph Hearst, and it is widely thought to be one of the greatest films of all time. American renditions of the genre show a change in tone from jubilant studio-era movies to a "warts and all" style in the late 1960s and early 1970s; Bound For Glory (Hal Ashby, US, 1976), for instance, is a biopic of Woody Guthrie. The Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There (Todd Haynes, US, 2007) and 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould (François Girard, Portugal/Canada/Finland/Netherlands, 1993) were two films from the 1990s that deliberately attempted to dissect the genre. Approximately 36% of Hollywood biopics revolve around the lives of performers, movie stars, and artists. This trend is also evident in modern cinema, where movies depict the ascent to fame of celebrities such as Elton John (Rocketman, 2019) and Freddie Mercury (Bohemian Rhapsody, 2018). These kinds of movies are known to draw crowds, and when studios want to draw in viewers, narrating the life of a celebrity or other well-known person provides them with an extra edge. Additionally, biopics are frequently made on a tight budget. Putting money into a movie is risky, and a studio may be on the verge of going bankrupt after a few high-profile setbacks. Thus, distributing the production and distribution of smaller-budget movies among the series of bigger ones helps to drastically reduce the risk factor. Particularly, music biopics have established themselves as essential components of the business due to their consistent popularity with viewers. Since they own the record labels that release the songs from the movies, this is just one more advantage that movie studios have. "Bohemian Rhapsody," which features a soundtrack full of Queen songs, is one example of this. Disney owns Hollywood Records, which owns the rights to their songs. Disney also owns the film's producing companies, Regency and 20th Century Studios.

But despite their popularity, a lot of people have started to contend that biopics in general are a product of Hollywood's lack of originality rather than anything else. They assert that studios have resorted to retelling pre-existing stories rather than creating entirely new material, supporting their allegation that they lack originality. Furthermore, many have started to seem the same due to a regrettable lack of originality and the steady stream of biopics that are being released. Viewers discover that Hollywood has even made true stories about particular people seem corny. Stories that ought to be unique from each other are being produced in a way that, instead of being new and authentic, leaves viewers feeling bored. However, redundancy is not the only downfall of biopics. It has become more and more apparent in recent years that biopics often exploit the figures they’re portraying. Directors are not looking for their story to tell the truth but to play into aesthetics. Therefore, celebrity’s narratives are being altered, dramatized, and capitalized on, instead of accurately displayed. “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Elvis” and the Marilyn Munroe movie “Gold” are all examples of this phenomenon. Current controversies, however, have not affected the frequency of biopic production. Moviegoers can anticipate seeing movies like "Going Electric," which stars Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan; "Oppenheimer," which features a star-studded cast led by Cillian Murphy; and "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story," which stars Daniel Radcliffe, among others, in the near future. Audiences are hoping that Hollywood can buck previous trends and do justice to those whose stories they have chosen to tell, with these and many more already in the works.

RISING TREND OR OBSESSION OF BOLLYWOOD FOR BIOPICS

Making a biography is another way to avoid being creative. All you have to do is choose someone who was once a legend, but at that time, not many would have known who he or she was, as only actors and cricket players are considered celebrities in India. Forget about recognition if you are an inventive business owner or an Olympian with a gold medal. It has truly amazed everyone how quickly the quantity of biopics produced in Hindi films has increased. Not that these kinds of movies weren't made before, but the current production rate for them is unheard of. Furthermore, the box office results only serve to highlight how well-liked these biographical movies are among audiences. We have already seen biopics like "Shakuntala Devi" and "Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl", even in the COVID-19 era. The Dirty Picture (2011), Paan Singh Tomar (2012), and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013) are three biographical films that are impossible to ignore, despite the difficulty of identifying a single biopic that started this trend. These films are based on the lives of controversial South Indian actress Silk Smitha, athlete-turned-bandit Paan Singh Tomar, and ace sprinter Milkha Singh, also known as "The Flying Sikh," respectively. The popularity of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag in particular helped to establish the genre of sports biopics, which are particular types of biographical films. According to filmmaker Vikram Bhatt, the trend of biopics in Hindi cinema is a result of mob behaviour. “If a biopic works, people start making biopics. If comedy films work, then people start making comedy films, and if action films start working, they make action films. So it’s a phase, and we have to see how long this phase lasts,” Bhatt had opined. The fact that the majority of Bollywood biopics take excessive artistic license for the sake of entertainment is a whole other story. The most recent of these films, a biography of Gunjan Saxena, has already become embroiled in a number of significant controversies. Part of the audience seemed to find the portrayal of gender discrimination in the Indian Air Force (IAF) offensive. The producers, Dharma Productions, Netflix, and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) have all received a note from the IAF expressing their dissatisfaction. Therefore, it will be extremely difficult for the filmmakers of biopics to keep the viewers interested unless they stick to historical data and facts supported by in-depth study, cease taking too many artistic licenses, and are able to maintain consistency in terms of material quality.

This obsession does have a benefit, though. We learn about some amazing but underappreciated people in the process of trying to turn an inspirational story into a hit film. Aside from athletes, people have been truly inspired by movies based on the lives of social workers like Padman and Gulab Gang. These films have given people notoriety and increased freedom to pursue their passions. Despite the greatest efforts of directors to dramatize the lives of these heroes, the aftermath of their biopic exposes the hypocrisy of our society once more, as people begin to acclaim the legends after witnessing their biography. In conclusion, replicating someone else's journey is a simpler option than starting from the beginning.