Animal lyricists say, ‘Filmmakers in Bollywood have become corrupt’

Writer-lyricist turned filmmakers duo, Siddharth Singh and Garima Wahal, are making it big with their directorial debut. The film recently won the People’s Choice Award for Best Film at the 6th Mumbai Film Festival. Having previously worked with Sanjay Leela Bhansali in his films like Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Padmaavat, and Sandeep Reddy Vanga in Kabir Singh, and Animal, the duo has quite an impressive body of work.

When they sat with mid-day for a candid chat, we asked them about the changing dynamics within the industry and the ongoing issues that are bothersome. The two had quiet some thoughts to share. 

Siddharth and Garima about filmmakers

Given that the filmmakers have worked closely with Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Sandeep Reddy Vanga, we asked them what was common between the two. Siddharth replied, "They work with a lot of honesty, because they want to tell a story. Here, people want to make a film and then put agendas of a woke culture in it. All these filmmakers in Bollywood have got corrupt, I feel. You know, there`s a wave of feminism. It`s a wave. They don`t care about women`s liberation, actually. They care about the wave. Oh, now the ads are being made on feminism? Oh, the women? Yeah, okay. So, let`s put feminism in our film. That`s not the right reason to make a film. You make a strong female character, she will anyway win over people."

They further added that films now-a-days are being made for critics. Garima says, "In Bollywood, people make films, a lot of films for critics. Nowadays, see what is happening? Even the most commercial production houses are making films which are pleasing the critics and running away with zero box office performance. I`m sorry. I really feel that films need to make money. They should make money for the producer. They should be brought out and put out in a way."

Siddharth-Garima about increasing demands of actors

When asked if the actors demands have been rising given the debate around entourage costs, Siddharth says, "Producers have started giving them that, you know, cushion. They started doing all this, so now it is coming to bite them. It is unrealistic, completely unrealistic. The actors don`t need to be pampered so much. That`s why our industry is actor-driven and South is content-driven."

Garima adds, "It is really unhealthy. It is not advisable at all. Already, films are suffering more. We are falling left, right and center on the box office. These actors have no empathy for that or what. So I feel it`s really criminal to ask the producer for that kind of money. Actors are the least empathetic, I feel.

Talking about the 8-hour work shift demands, Siddharts quips, "And right now people who are fighting for these 8-hour shifts and all that forget that there is a certain clock that is ticking when the producer is putting money behind the set." 

"They (actors) are handling multiple projects at the same time. They can go and endorse a brand or cut a ribbon. There should be time for that too. But why should the producer suffer at the cost of that kind?"

Siddharth Garima on winning the People`s Choice Award

The two also opened up about winning the People`s Choice Award for their directorial debut, Dukaan. Garima expressed her pride and joy saying, "We were very happy with being selected in the Mumbai Film Festival, which is a relatively newer festival and they have very stringent sort of process through which the film. So out of 1500 films, they selected like 25 features, which was great." 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Siddharth Garima (@siddharthgarima)

She further adds, "And then when the screening happened at NFAI, which is the National Film Archives of India, it was a moment of pride. And the kind of audience reaction that we got, the people who watched it, every age group." The lyricist adds how college students from Pune had turned up for the screening and gave an overwhelming response. 

Siddharth added how the response and award comes as a validation. He shared, "The film had issues, multiple issues in terms of release because we didn`t have a big star cast, and there was no A-lister`s face, we had very limited theatres when we came out." 

Garima adds, "You know, for people, how me and Siddharth are and how we`ve been, we will always love a Public Choice Award more than a Critics Award because for us, we make films for the public, for the audience. We are not here to please the critics."