Those who have seen 'Parinda' would understand the importance of this film in shaping the Hindi film industry of today. The dreaded underworld with all its loneliness didn't look overhyped for the first time. Terror didn't have a face this time. 'Parinda' coined the term Indian noir. Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the director of 'Parinda', was a man with vision since his college days.
His diploma film 'Murder at Monkey Hill' fetched him the National Film Award but the man had something else in his mind. A tryst with murder mysteries started with 'Sazaa-E-Maut' (1981) but it took him eight more years to come up with a game changer like 'Parinda' (1989). Though he directed 'Khamosh' (1985) between 'Sazaa-E-Maut' and 'Parinda' but his own style developed only after 'Parinda'.
The decade of 1980 was possibly the worst phase of Bollywood when it produced films without any philosophy or thinking. 'Parinda' came at a time when Bollywood was inching towards cynical love stories. '1942: A Love Story' (1993) was a brave attempt for two reasons. Making a period drama in the times of 'Mohra' and 'Darr' needed a lot of courage. Secondly we haven't seen authentic period films in the past. Despite a bad box office result, '1942: A Love Story' will always be remembered for minute detailing.
'Kareeb' and 'Mission Kashmir', both became flops and they must have cost Chopra a fortune but 'Mission Kashmir' established his name as a sensible director. Till now, he had mastered the art of blending the class and mass elements. 'Eklavya: The Royal Guard' was a debatable entry for Oscars but the film was made with a distinct aesthetic sense. And it was Chopra's return to direction after seven years, but the man's real contribution to the Hindi film industry is as a producer.
Just have a look at some of the films produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. 'Munna Bhai MBBS', 'Parineeta', 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai', and '3 Idiots'. Which other producer had thought of changing Mahatma Gandhi into a contemporary fashion symbol? 'Rang De Basanti' was also a hit but it didn’t start a chain reaction. Gandhigiri became a national slang, and people accepted Sanjay Dutt as a golden hearted 'bhai'. It wasn't much before 'Munna Bhai' that Dutt had become the centre of hatred due to his involvement in Mumbai bomb blast case. How many times have we seen the content ruling the box office in India?
'3 idiots' successfully did what numerous government documentaries couldn't do in years. No doubt the film became the most successful film in the history of Hindi cinema. Chopra's brilliance primarily lies in the films he produced. His absence from the film circuit could have deprived the young generation of Gandhian philosophies as well as Rancho's philosophies. IBNLive congratulates Vidhu Vinod Chopra on completing thirty years in the Hindi film industry.
