At the moment, Bollywood has been taken by the unanticipated extent of success garnered by the couple recent releases, Kahaani and Paan Singh Tomar.

The box office collections of these two films are being celebrated because they are the proverbial underdogs. Without the obvious A-list star casts, established directors, previously acclaimed screenwriters, generous budgets, and overall gamble involved in giving such off-mainstream projects a chance, they have won over critics and audiences alike. 

What they all both in common which has presumably cast the spell is something the industry has been missing for a long while: stories worth telling, told worthily. Be it the mysterious search for mommy-to-be Vidya Bagchi's husband in Kahaani, or the thus far untold biography of an athlete turned dacoit in Paan Singh Tomar, both films have succeeded in breaking away from the skin and sparkle driven formulas that had become all too frequent a sight in the past several years. The films have also been characterized by natural, unassuming performances from their leads, and unique low-cost promotional strategies.

With the division between commercial cinema and art cinema diminishing, this trend is being hailed as the beginning of a great new chapter wherein films will be forced to live up to high expectations of substance rather than just style.

For a future of bright cinema that can indulge the thinking audience, we hope a new breed of directors with novel ideas to break the monotony of remade, rehashed, or recycled films will burgeon hereon!

Author: Mayu
Editors: Fariha & Naseem
Graphics: Gurprit