The inside story

Movies about movies are a subgenre unto themselves each telling a distinct story While Farah Khan gave a comedic touch to her directorial venture Om Shanti Om 2007 Heroine 2012 highlighted the ups and downs of stardom in a cutthroat industry while Luck by Chance 2009 showcased the struggle of an outsider making it in showbiz the series Call My Agent Bollywood talked about the life of PR agents Disney Hotstarrsquos upcoming series Showtimemdashfeaturing Emraan Hashmi Rajeev Khandelwal Naseeruddin Shah Mouni Roy and Mahima Makwanamdashis set to expose the inner workings of an industry that has often made people curiousSumit RoySo what does it take to tell an insider story about the industry Access one would say However to show all that goes on behind the tint of glamour it takes much moremdashguts the willingness to risk being in peoplersquos bad books the ability to get people to support your idea and a compelling narrative to get the audience hooked The challenges of crafting such stories are as diverse as the films themselvesBalancing authenticity with sensitivityWhen Rajkumar Hirani tried to capture Sanjay Duttrsquos life with Sanju 2018 it was created after months of long conversations with the superstar and the people around him While the biopic with Dutt at its centre had the advantage of firsthand view it also had the disadvantage of having a filtered perspective The insider knowledge comes with the responsibility to portray the industry authentically while treading carefully to avoid stepping on toes Striking that balance is paramount Showtime writercreator Sumit Roy says that a huge part of the writing process involved writers ruminating about their experiences in the film industryMilan Luthria claimed that there were a lot of challenges in making The Dirty Picture including when he wanted to cast Vidya Balan as Reshma as her image in the industry did not match the characterldquoA few years ago there was a huge amount of misinformation about Bollywood and I was aghast as a member of the industry at how people were saying and believing anything about it When Showtime came to me I thought it was a perfect opportunity to address the misconception that everything in the industry is bad Bollywood is an artistic business and artistes tend to have huge egos So much so that I feel there are some people in Bollywood whose body weight is like 90 per cent hot air and pompousness They can be extremely sensitive sometimes about how theyrsquore portrayed how theyrsquore spoken about So when we were about to start writing our show which is going behind the scenes in Bollywood and spilling the beans there were definitely concerns about how it will be received But at the same time I was clear that the material has to come from a place of observation a place of truth and must reflect things that I have seen in the industry Because in the last threefour years Bollywood has been overscrutinisedrdquo says RoyFarah Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were sued for making a parody on veteran actor Manoj Kumar in Om Shanti OmHe was certain that he didnrsquot want to get called out for giving an inauthentic take ldquoThe intent of the show is to talk about larger themes within Bollywoodmdashwhat it means to be an insider versus an outsider or to be a woman in Bollywood and also to talk about the tyranny of the superstarrdquo He gives example of a scene in the series where Hashmirsquos producer character is shown yelling at a superstar played by Khandelwal outside his house for refusing a project Roy says that this had actually happened between a superstar and a producerFear of whitewashingWhile authenticity is paramount many times filmmakers choose to avoid telling the whole truth so as to not aggravate the person involved For instance Hirani was criticised for whitewashing Dutt and going soft on the allegations of his connection with the criminal world In sharp contrast filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar depicted the harsh side of showbiz with HeroineMadhur BhandarkarldquoWhen I made Chandni Bar 2001 or Traffic Signal 2007 or Corporate 2006 all the film industry people applauded me and were happy for my filmsrsquo success However when I decided to make Heroine people were not thrilled My movies are 70 per cent true and 30 per cent fiction so people start drawing parallels and that can get tough sometimes When the trailer of Heroine released a lot of people got upset with me This is the same film fraternity that appreciated my National Awards they were all happy till the time it was not about them People wondered how Irsquod expose my own fraternity But I didnrsquot want to lose my integrity by sugarcoating things My honesty is with the audience not with the fraternityrdquo he saysIndustry politicsBehind the glitzy faccedilade of Bollywood lies a complex mesh of power dynamics rivalries and groupism Gaining access to insider information can be both a blessing and a curse While it provides invaluable insights it also means treading cautiously to avoid getting embroiled in industry politics or running the risk of offending many with the truth Bhandarkar shares ldquoThatrsquos why I am an independent filmmaker I am not part of any group gang or circle There is a pressure when it comes to the film fraternity because people think itrsquos uncomfortable because you are showing the truthrdquoHeroine and Page 3While Roy is eagerly waiting for his March 8 release there is also tension in the air The creatorwriter says ldquoThe stars and filmmakers in the series are based on reallife stars and filmmakers A lot of the plot points are anecdotes from our lives that we witnessed or knew of After writing one of the concerns was what would happen when we took it to Karan Johar producer I was a bit skeptical But to his absolute credit he was a complete champion He immediately saw the intent of what we were going for I am not making this because I have some axe to grind with someone Lots of characters are amalgamations of different people so they audience can have fun decoding There are some worries about what will happen when the show eventually drops Will people be offended Maybe we should go underground for a couple of daysrdquo