Filmmaker Anand Gandhi said people have started realising that stars are not the most credible factor in deciding the quality of a film. Gandhi, who has produced the award-winning documentary 'An Insignificant Man', directed by Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla, believes the trust has started to shift from stars to directors and other creative people.
"As a cinema making country and as an audience we are at a cusp of this transition; where the audiences are going to watch a film not only in the name of an actor but also for the director and the team. Largely for the past few decades people have trusted actors,” Gandhi siad.
"But as we are able to spread cinema literacy, people are becoming aware that there are directors, writers and cinematographers, who do amazing work and that stars are not necessarily the most reliant factor to fall back on," he added.
While he does not see a major shift in the near future, Gandhi said filmmakers such as Vishal Bhardwaj, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap have managed to create a certain relationship with the audience. Gandhi, meanwhile, is looking forward to the release of 'An Insignificant Man', which chronicles the birth of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the rise of its leader Arvind Kejriwal.
When pointed out that he seems to be drawn towards "real" stories, Gandhi said a lot of people have looked at the documentary as a masala entertainer. "What is entertaining for a lot of people is plain boring for others. This is a documentary feature so it is absolutely real. Cinema is a tool which enables you to transmit ideas, aspirations, reflections, dreams, insights. So, movies are either absolute realities or dreams," he continued.
Gandhi said he has been following the work of Ranka and Shukla and was so impressed that he thought of backing the documentary feature. Ranka was Gandhi's co-writer on 'Ship of Theseus', while Shukla had made a short film. "They wanted to make a documentary and not a fiction. When they were making it, I was not sure where it will go. I was not sure if they will be able to get complete access or not, and maintain neutrality. But, they have managed to keep a neutral perspective," he said.