A recent media report said that Alia Bhatt has been cast in a Hollywood film. Now, that would be the ultimate dream of many Indian artistes. However, the route to Hollywood is not at all easy, nor eventually fruitful.
All careers are ambition-driven in all fields. But, somehow, more so in the film industry. Hundreds of aspirants descended on Bombay to seek a career in films. The aim was stardom through acting. Not all could make it as an actor, let alone become a star. Most of these youth dreamt of stardom while watching films, imitating their favourite star's dressing style, hairstyle and behaviour. The vernacular film magazines fed them with the glamour quotient of the film industry.
The way to stardom was through Bombay of that time. The struggle started the moment one landed. Many dreams travelled on the Frontier Mail to the city from the North. Most were shattered and the few, very few, that fructified would make a volume in itself. It was mostly about the actors, but there were also those who came here in Mumbai to pursue the dream of becoming music composers, writers, and shining in affiliated fields.
Then a new trend started. The aspiring actors and others keen on cinematography, editing, direction and so on had a place to train them, the Film And Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. Soon, steady hordes of 'certified' talent descended on the film industry. They included directors, cinematographers, editors and actors. But the FTII students who made a mark in Hindi films were the ones aspiring to be actors.
Of course, many of the directors got their chances. Sadly, they were trained on and exposed to the films of legendary European filmmakers. Something that was not relevant to Indian films. In fact, many of those who trained to be film directors at the FTII took to making what were in those days called offbeat films!
When it came to actors from the FTII, there were many who entered the film industry during the 1970s. Most of them found work. All filmmakers could not afford big stars and casting a newbie was a risk. With FTII acting graduates, it was different. They were trained and certified and that worked in their favour. Just about every acting graduate found work almost at once. They had no airs of being stars and were willing to accept any assignment. Later, talent also landed from the National School of Drama (NSD).
Now, we are into the OTT era. OTT works both ways. It has given work to many actors whose careers in films were on the verge of plateauing (Saif Ali Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Manoj Bajpayee and so on), while also giving new talent to the industry. Pratik Gandhi, for example. His performance in 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, made everybody take notice of him and, soon, film assignments followed.
But, even while the entertainment industry here gives name, fame and riches, why do some stars crave for a Hollywood break? Some of the big stars have done bit roles in Hollywood films, but the media goes wild and makes it look like he/she has simply captured Hollywood! The ambitious ones also engage agents there to look for assignments.
From Persis Khambatta to I.S. Johar, Kabir Bedi, Amrish Puri, Gulshan Grover, Anupam Kher, Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Aishwarya Rai, Shabana Azmi, Priyanka Chopra, Tabu, Freida Pinto and Deepika have made a film or television series in the US or in Britain. And now comes the announcement of Alia Bhatt landing a Hollywood assignment. Why put in all that struggle all over again? What good is a film in Hollywood? After all, these stars never get called again! IANS
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