The Filmmaker of 2011 - my bet's on Onir

The year gone by saw scores of films on fresh and contemporary themes hitting the screens. Among the contemporary filmmakers, or even otherwise, the filmmaker that unanimously stood out was Dibakar Banerjee, with Love Sex Aur Dhoka. Dibakar had already proven himself with Khosla ka Ghosla; he followed it up with the tepid Oye Lucky Lucky Oye. Dibakar has always displayed a strong sense of craft, and with LSD he hit a pinnacle, and displayed complete mastery over a novel format of filmmaking (as far as Indian films are concerned). 

This year too there are going to several films to look forward to, and several young and contemporary filmmakers will be making their debuts. Although the current line-up doesn’t look too exciting, 2011 should be a better year as compared to 2010.

My bet on the filmmaker who is going to spring a positive surprise this year is Onir, with his film ‘I Am’. This film essentially consists of four different stories connected by a common theme. The reason for choosing Onir is more to do with gut feel – having a keen interest in filmmaking and following films and filmmakers over the years, one develops a certain instinct on films and filmmakers. Likewise, other film enthusiasts will have their own takes and opinions on the line-up of the films under production. 

Onir has been around for a while, and is essentially remembered for his first film My Brother Nikhil, which won critical acclaim and was a mediocre success. His next two films – Bas Ek Pal and Sorry Bhai – didn’t manage to connect with people and failed at the box office. I haven’t seen My Brother Nikhil, and I’ve only seen patches of Bas Ek Pal on the tube. Sorry Bhai is the only film that I've seen. Sadly this rather nice film went unnoticed, having released during the 26/11 terror attacks. Although not very impactful or without flaws, it was a rather pleasant watch – most characters were real and believable, with Shabana Azmi and Boman Irani essaying particularly well-etched out characters. There is certain genuineness in Onir’s approach to filmmaking. As a person too, Onir seems quite genuine and endearing. Having observed this evolution in him, I have a strong feeling that he might just hit that sweet spot with his next, and finally manage to make that connection with the audience.