Artistic Aspirations vs Commercial Concerns? India Today - East guests discuss

Assamese actor Kapil Bora today invoked legendary names such as Phani Sharma, Dr. Bhabendranath Saikia, Jahnu Baruah, Brajen Baruah, Padum Baruah, Bidyut Chakraborty, Sanjeev Hazarika, Dr. Santana Bodoloi, Monju Bora --citing them as examples of filmmakers who made art for art’s sake without worrying about commercial viability.

“They made films in Assam just because they were passionate about cinema. Just because they wanted to tell the stories which they felt should be seen by the people in the whole world. And they made films that made a mark in the international arena as well,” Bora said at a session titled ‘.

According to Bora, they made these films because of “innate creativity.”

“Only good art is sustainable even commercially,” added two-time National award winning Assamese film critic Utpal Borpujari.

Borpujari said: “Cinematically speaking, if you are just looking just at the weekend collection, that will keep happening and that will keep dying also. There will be a new one to break the record. Artistically, if you want to sustain – for 20 years, 50 years – who will you remember? I think that is more important as a creative person.”

He added that OTT platforms have exposed Indians to a variety of cinema and pointed to offbeat critically-acclaimed cinema such as – ‘Village Rockstars’, ‘Amish’, ‘Kothanodi’ – that struck gold.

Artist Paresh Maity, another guest on the panel, expressed that “creative inspiration is the ultimate goal first and foremost.”

“If you are thinking commercial aspiration, I think you won’t be able any good art. You should be like a child not thinking of anything. No preconceived ideas and thoughts – that you just want to create a piece of art,” he added.

 ‘I Am Kalam’ director Nila Madhab Panda, responding to a query, said it is “tragic” that film makers have to grapple with such challenges in a bid to express their art.