Anupam Sharma explains reason behind crafting his docu ‘Brand Bollywood Down Under’

Mumbai, Oct 10  Documentary filmmaker Anupam Sharma, who has directed the docu ‘Brand Bollywood Down Under’, has said that the need to make the film originated from the urge to celebrate Hindi mainstream cinema in all its glory.

Stating his reasons for creating the documentary, he said, “There is a need for a documentary for every aspect of Australia and Bollywood. There is a need for a global documentary on Bollywood or popular Indian cinema. There is a need for a documentary on Australia and India film links from trade, film, political and social points of view.”

“Everyone was apologizing for Bollywood, sheepishly being embarrassed, and scared of ridicule. I hated that. Hindi popular cinema no matter what you call it Bollywood, mainstream, popular, is deeper in form and content and ‘seriously entertaining’ and needs to be celebrated. As Anupam Kher says in our film, ‘We make 1.4 billion people happy. We do sell the misery of life, we celebrate life. Hence, the need for this documentary particularly for the West,” he added.

Having studied films abroad and living in the West, he is amazed that when one Googles Bollywood, they will find over 1.51 billion hits in 3 seconds, that’s 1/3 of a second.

“You look around, there are Bollywood dance classes, shows, and theme parties. Still, there is nothing comprehensive on why it is called Bollywood, who named it, how popular Hindi cinema got the name of Bollywood, what are its origins and many such questions which have never been addressed cohesively and comprehensively.”

Recently, the music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman teamed up with superstar singer Arijit Singh for a dance number for the film.

Describing the song, Salim-Sulaiman said: “Anupam was very clear. He wanted a foot-tapping song that represents Indian cinema in a very cultural and beautiful way.”

They explained that the mood and the emotions were more metaphorical than direct.

Describing the hook line, they said, “When a maker wants to make a film, he wants to invite the audience to come and sit in the theatre and watch the film. That’s the basis of this hook line.”

The filmmaker received a lot of appreciation from the members of the Hindi cinema.

He said: “Documentaries are not commercial and are labour of love, so I was overwhelmed with gurus like Anupam Kher and well-wishers like Sajid N, and Vipul Shah, and giants like Samir Nair, Amit Khanna, Ritesh Sidhwani Harman Baweja and his whole family, Farhan Akhtar, and Fardeen along with internationally renowned Leena Yadav and Srishti Behl who gave their time for interviews.”

Rakesh Roshan, Aamir Khan Productions SRK Red Chillies, VCP films, and other film studios also helped the makers.