The Mastram effect: Erotica comes of age in India cinema

With sex and sexuality being hushhush topics in India any film with some amount of skin show generates curiosity which often transcends into lsquohealthyrsquo pun intended good opening collections at the ticket windows After all nothing sells like sexBengali actress Paoli Dam shed her inhibitions in Hate StoryPeople still remember Mandakinirsquos shower act in Raj Kapoorrsquos Ram Teri Ganga Maili Rekharsquos bathing sequence in Girish Karnadrsquos sensuously crafted Utsav and Zeenat Amanrsquos cleavage show in Satyam Shivam Sundaram In recent times films such as Jism 2 Murder and BA Pass created waves online as well as in theatresAkhilesh Jaiswalrsquos upcoming film Mastram is about a a reluctant pornographic writer who aspires to be a litterateurThe latest film to explore the theme of erotica is Akhilesh Jaiswalrsquos Mastram A biopic of legendary Hindi porn writer Mastram whose books were read by young men across India in the rsquo80s the film tries to explore the writerrsquos conflict with his creative aspirations and society The idea is novel with the trailer evoking interest among the Internet savvy audienceShashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman in the 1978 film Satyam Shivam SundaramWhen fact meets fiction Out in the open Akhilesh Jaiswal the director of Mastram says ldquoLike many young North Indian men I too grew up reading Mastramrsquos books I used to wonder how this guy would be like and what would he be telling people about his profession It was just a thought that later formed the base for my film We did a lot of research but could not find any links to the lsquoactualrsquo Mastram Most of the old bookstalls that sold his stuff had shut shop or the owners had died so I could not establish any contactrdquoShadab Kamal and Shilpa Shukla in BA Pass which released last year becoming Indiarsquos first erotica thriller to hit the marqueeWorking on a film based on the life of a porn writer would not have appealed to many Bollywood heroes but Jaiswal says that the initial reaction wasnrsquot that negative eitherGirish Karnadrsquos 1984 Rekhastarrer Utsav combined love politics erotica and comedyldquoI did not approach any big star but 90 per cent of those I asked were kicked about the script When Nawaz Nawazuddin Siddiqui heard it he loved it and so did Rajkummar Rao Unfortunately they could not be a part of the film due to other commitmentsMandakini took a shower under the waterfall in a transparent white saree in Raj Kapoorrsquos Ram Teri Ganga Maili 1985Adult topics are slowly finding their way into Indian cinema be it the theme of sperm donation in Vicky Donor or livein relationships in Shuddh Desi Romance Vivek Agnihotri whose film Hate Story had some steamy sequences featuring Bengali actress Paoli Dam opines ldquoThe media has played a huge role in opening up peoplersquos minds towards bold subjects And itrsquos not just about sexTopics such as gay relationships premarital sex abuse etc are being talked about in open forums This has made it easier for the middle class to accept such filmsrdquo Ajay Bahl who made the critical and commercial hit BA Pass also feels the same ldquoIndian society is rapidly evolving and people are exposed to foreign content this has brought about a change in perceptionsrdquo Beyond titillation With news of a heroine wearing a bikini still making for great PR material the maturity of the industry when it comes to erotica is highly debatable The young generation of filmmakers seems to have a common view mdash sex without content in a film is not going to hold the audiences attention Bahl states ldquoIn my opinion only visually erotic content does not guarantee a good opening at the box office The vibe of a film is very important Filmmakers now hopefully know that mere titillation will get them nowhere The idea is to tell a great story and if it falls under lsquoeroticarsquo then so be it Audiences have been accepting indirect sensual content for a long time in the form of songs and even TVCsrdquo The logic seems to hold true With porn being available at the click of a button the idea of enduring a trashy film for three hours just for some hot scenes is just fading away ldquoThe world watches porn for gratification and once itrsquos achieved they shut it off Itrsquos simply because porn does not have the story or dramatic content to hold their attention Films are all about drama it works if the drama works erotic or notrdquo says Bahl The modern audience wants to see all genres of films And erotica is catching up especially after the success of books like CL Jamesrsquo 50 Shades Of Grey both in the print and online version A lot of erotic content is available in ebooks and lapped up by both the sexes Agnihotri says ldquoI made a suspense film Chocolate and a sports drama Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal and I wanted to test my audience with Hate Story I donrsquot come from a camp that makes such films or own a erotic thriller franchise it was an independent effortrdquo Pushing limits While big budget erotic thrillers do get marketed well smaller films find it tougher BA Pass which earned R430 crore in the first weekend had to be released by Bahl himself ldquoIt was not easy to sell the film as no corporate wanted to touch it In fact we never sold BA Pass I released it myself with help from Bharat Shahrsquos distribution company Making an erotic film just for profitability is in the domain of lsquoBrsquo and lsquoCrsquo grade category I donrsquot think any good filmmaker approaches the genre in this fashionrdquo Dealing with the Censor Board is another hassle ldquoI feel they live in an archaic world The members are totally out of sync with what is preferred by the modern adult audience The board should be done away withrdquo However things seem to be in a transition mode Director Ashim Ahluwalia who never expected his film Miss Lovely to get a release in India was glad when the Board passed it with only four cuts earlier this year In 2013 they had asked Ahluwalia for 157 cuts In India the Censor doesnrsquot allow frontal nudity hardcore lovemaking scenes or graphic content so as a veteran director opines ldquoWhat we see is not really eroticardquo Actorsrsquo takeWhile Mallika Sherawatrsquos act in Murder classified her as lsquohotrsquo Shilpa Shukla wowed the audience and critics alike with her sexy Machiavellian act in BAPass Agnihotri explains ldquoShooting an intimate scene is not challenging Actors hardly have any dialogues in such sequences Itrsquos more about playing with the lighting camera angles and art directionrdquo Such films have given a boost to many new starlets and revived flagging fortunes Bahl says ldquoMy actors were exceptional performers who were mature enough to realise what the filmrsquos actual message was Thematically BAPass was based on the premise that society feeds on its own weak and that is the film we made I donrsquot think any good actor in their right mind would want to do a sexploitation flick However if they find material which digs deeper on an intellectual and emotional plane and a story which moves them then todayrsquos actors are brave enough to go furtherrdquo