Why Bollywood is heavily borrowing from reality

Last week the trailer of an upcoming film Sarabjit was released. The film stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and is based on the controversial life of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian national sentenced to death by Pakistani courts. This is the third commercial Hindi film of 2016, after Akshay Kumar-starrer Airlift and Sonam Kapur-starrer Neerja, which is based on real events, and we're already in mid-year.

Also read: Airlift distorts history, creates a false Indian hero

Two of the three Khans who dominate the Hindi commercial cinematic space – Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan are about to become the screen versions of real people. In their stellar career of almost 20 years in Hindi cinema, it is for the first time that they are playing out characters based on real life.

Aamir’s upcoming film Dangal is based on the life of Indian wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, while Shah Rukh will play the gangster Abdul Latif in the upcoming film Raees (it’s release date has been recently postponed to 2017).

Also read: Why SRK's Fan and Raees will suffer like Dilwale

A look at the list of upcoming films of the year by major production houses starring commercially successful stars indicates a tilt to reality-based films – films that are based on real characters or events or respond to the current and past socio-political events.

One such film is Udta Punjab, starring Bollywood's contemporary starlets – Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Kareena Kapoor. The film throws light on the menace of drug abuse in Punjab, an affluent state of India.

Also read: When Alia Bhatt took the 'biggest risk of her career'

Fox Star Studios is coming with a biopic on the contemporary Indian cricketer, MS Dhoni, played by the popular actor Sushant Singh Rajput in the film MS Dhoni:The Untold Story. The life of controversial ex-Indian cricket captain Mohammad Azharuddin was the inspiration behind the recently released film Azhar.

Realism was a bastion of parallel Hindi cinema of 1960s, '70s and '80s. Filmmakers like Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani captured the pulse of contemporary social issues in astutely realistic films, such as Manthan, Ardh Satya, Aakrosh.

These films catapulted powerful actors such as Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil to Indian cinematic screen. However, commercialisation of cinema coupled with other factors fizzled out this once promising "new wave cinema".

But, currently, why is commercial Hindi cinema - which has often been reproached for being "escapist" (escaping the surrounding realities) - hobnobbing with reality?

The answer, perhaps, lies in the past successes of reality-based commercial films. Over the past few years, Bollywood appears to have found a market for realism. Films based on real people such as Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Mary Kom, Paan Singh Tomar or based on real-life events such as Special 26, Talvar have received critical accolades as well as commercial success.

Also read: What Mary Kom leaves behind when she runs away

The revival of parallel cinema in the 1990s with the commercial success of Ram Gopal Varma's Satya, and the subsequent Mumbai noir films have carved a niche for realistic films in commercial Hindi film industry.

Over the years, this space has expanded, culminating in 2016, when almost all major commercial production houses and movie stars are riding on the reality bandwagon.

Is 2016 really a year of awakening for Bollywood or just a passing trend? The coming years will reveal.