Director of hit film 3 Idiots on Bollywood’s new golden age of riskier storytelling
Rajkumar Hirani sees Indian film industry willing to ditch songs and tell more varied stories – some with darker themes, such as his work about actor Sanjay Dutt’s rise and fall
Bollywood box office king Rajkumar Hirani believes a new golden age is dawning for the Indian movie industry as filmmakers look outside the box to tell more varied stories.
“Before there was a belief that you had to have songs,” said Hirani, the man behind a string of Bollywood hits including the global sensation 3 Idiots. “Now people are completely experimenting with the subject matter.”
Even those directors who continue to include songs are also exploring “much darker themes” – and still enjoying massive box office success, he said.
A case in point is 55-year-old Hirani’s latest offering, Sanju, which the director has brought to this year’s 23rd Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, the largest of its kind in Asia.
Sanju is based on the real-life story of the rise and fall of Indian star Sanjay Dutt, who was born into Bollywood royalty but was jailed for possession of illegal weapons in connection with a terrorist attack on Mumbai in 1993.