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Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies (ISSN 2231 – 1033) Copyright 2017 by ASCO 2017, Vol. 7, No. 1 Amity University Rajasthan Analyzing Imtiaz Ali as an Auteur Kanika Kachroo Arya Dnyanasadhana College, Mumbai University, India Abstract Imtiaz Ali is a contemporary Bollywood director whose genre is love stories. He has a stream of experimental love stories to his credit, some bench markers are Jab We Met, Rockstar and Tamasha. Not only is his storytelling a well nurtured individualistic style, but the use of techniques of cinema are also experimental. My research paper will analyse this director in the boundaries of Auteur theory. The research will be a qualitative study and methodology used will be in-depth interviews and observation and use of secondary research resources to build up affirmation towards my hypothesis. This director’s style will be compared with other stalwarts of the genre like Raj Kapoor and Yash Chopra. This will carve out his style more specifically. Imtiaz Ali has a unique style aesthetically as well as technically. He understands the psychology of his target audience and that’s what has carved a niche for him in Bollywood - a cult director of romance genre. Key words: Auteur Theory, Direction, Niche, Bollywood. Introduction Imtiaz Ali is one amongst the contemporary directors of Bollywood. His directorial debut was Socha Na Tha released in 2005. Though the movie did not do well but he received a lot of critical acclaim for it. Jab we Met (2007) and Rockstar (2011) brought him into limelight. Jab We Met was a box office success and Rockstar was appreciated in critical circles for superb rendition of a careless musician. It is considered one of his best works, and has a classic performance given by Ranbir Kapoor. This write up will analyse the work of this particular director under the framework of Auteur Theory. Imtiaz Ali has created a signature style in Bollywood with not only his aesthetic delivery but technical perspective as well. Most of his movies track the contemporary youth’s life, his genre is romance but his portrayal is very different from Bollywood stereotypes. There are no affluent families, huge sets, and extended song and dance sequences in foreign locales irrespective of the setting, high decibel melodrama and a predictable storyline. Ali’s portrayal has not so perfect protagonists going through their internal conflicts and living a basic middle class life. The actors have subtle acting styles, a mix of Indian and foreign locales as setting, average music but strongly connected to story’s theme and a very unpredictable storytelling style with heavy use of symbols and motifs. This last point is what majorly sets him apart from majority bollywood directors, as he forces his audience to experiment, think and gauge a situation in their mind rather than spoon-feeding them. Literature review Film making is not a one man job. Literature is an avenue where author is the whole and sole of his story and characters, but film being a widely dynamic and technical medium cannot be entailed as one man’s work. It is a team work and can be created when the technical, aesthetics and finance work in tandem with each other. But there is this one person whose vision overpowers all other parts of filmmaking. It is this person who has an idea and that idea is culminated into an audio visual entity with the help of a team but the essence of a film is this man- the director. Auteur theory has gauged filmmaking since 1950’s; the torch bearer of the theory was director and critic François Truffaut. This theory propagated because of the French New Wave and the film critics who wrote for the French periodical Cahiers du Cinéma. Auteur theory evolved in the United States through the writings of The Village Voice critic Andrew Sarris (Chaudhari, 2013, p.4). Akira Kurosawa, Satyajit Ray, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, and Jean Renoir are known as auteurs due to their extraordinary personal influence upon their films. Alexandre Astruc introduced the term ‘caméra-stylo’ or camera-pen, which added up to the auteur theory and it meant that directors must use camera as a pen is used by author and create unconventional storytelling methods. Truffaut and his colleagues at Cahiers du Cinéma believed that to be an auteur a director had to create a strong visual style like Alfred Hitchcock or a strong thematic style like Jean Renoir. It was Andrew Sarris who actually formulated the theory in 1960’s and applied it to U.S. Cinema, he discussed three aspects on the basis of which auteur theory could be applied, and these included technical aspects, personal style and inner meaning which exudes in a 50 Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies (ISSN 2231 – 1033) Copyright 2017 by ASCO 2017, Vol. 7, No. 1 Amity University Rajasthan particular film. According to Sarris, to be a great director it is very important to be a good director; thus, the first condition will be satisfied only when the director has a unique technical rendering of his thoughts. Also the second condition is fulfilled when time and again, a director shows invisibly through his work, it can be through his portrayal of an intense romantic scene or a non verbal yet strong communion; the third condition is fulfilled when the director’s sensibility percolates through his works and can be gauged by an intense reading of his works (Chaudhari, 2013, p.8). For e.g. - In Guru Dutt’s movies - Pyaasa, Kagaz Ke Phool and Sahib, Biwi Aur Ghulam , his creation of protagonist who are fighting a self inflicted battle, his constant melancholic storytelling and intense moments in which humanity is de-humanized create a unique style of the director and his personality shows through all three of his works. Indian Cinema has produced strong auteurs like Dadasaheb Phalke, Himanshu Roy, P.C. Barua, Bimal Roy, Satyajit Ray, Guru Dutt, Adoor Gopal Krishnan, Govind Nihalani, Girish Kasarvalli, Mani Ratnam and several others, who have created different cinematic worlds even though many of their films fall in the category of so-called mainstream cinema. In contemporary era Ram Gopal Verma is considered having a signature style which includes intense performances and documentary-like presentations .The comedy scenes are handled sensibly by him and not created out of physical or psychological disabilities (Vemireddy, P.5,2011). Also, Ram Gopal Varma’s films are often analysed on the basis of biographical elements and influences. It is said that that Shiva and Satya have strong biographical elements. In Shiva he describes college politics and how politicians take leverage out of it. He has stated that his college life has loosely shaped the character of Shiva. Satya talks about regionalism and the plight of an outsider, something that he closely relates to. The director always confesses that his films are not for an audience but for himself. His style also entails creating a brand value with the tag ’A Ram Gopal Verma Film’. His production house known by the name ‘Factory’ strictly works on his aesthetic style and technical elements. Also intense marketing strategies are followed to keep the brand alive in audience’s mind. According to Vemireddy, “with consistent and recurring film narratives that deal mostly with crime, mafia, action and the politics of power with off-beat techniques, irrespective of genre, film and stars, has established himself as a powerful auteur (author). His basic treatment of screenplay, editing, low-key photography, bleak images, characterization and method acting has brought new technologies and ideas” (2011, p.8). Some more directors from bollywood who need mention include the National Film Award winning director Hansal Mehta whose Shahid, City Lights and Aligarh track the real colours of India. Tigmanshu Dhulia is another critically acclaimed director who has touched chords with the rough heartlands of India. His debut film Haasil launched Irfan Khan, while his biographical drama Pan Singh Tomar bagged him a National Award. The above mentioned two have created a niche for themselves in mainstream cinema by taking sensitive and rugged topics and bringing audience acceptability and critical acclaim to them. Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra is creator of a cult with movies like Rang De Basanti , a movie with a strong contemporary theme which created a furore in the minds of young India and the Indian Judicial system. Also his camera work and narrative strategy was very unconventional and continues to do so with the current movies from his bandwagon. Rajkumar Hirani, also known as the Hrishikesh Mukherjee of contemporary times has made movies which are light and enteraining but raise poignant questions about preset mindset, superstitions and rickety education system. His movies may not have realistic characters or locales but raise pertinent issues with respect to our society Soman (2016) says, “Vishal Bhardwaj changed the dynamics of Indian cinema when the first of his Shakespearean tragedy ‘Maqbool’, was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2003” (n.p.). This director is a master of multiple genres from Children movies to political satires but it is his rendition of Shakespearean tragedy in an Indian milieu which gives him a place as a strong auteur. “The ultimate rebel of Indian cinema, Anurag Kashyap has been the catalyst which proved instrumental in ushering in a new generation of bold and unflinchingly honest filmmakers” 51 Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies (ISSN 2231 – 1033) Copyright 2017 by ASCO 2017, Vol. 7, No. 1 Amity University Rajasthan (Soman, 2016, n.p.). His movies depicting the dark and dingy corners of the crime life in India is quite a rare piece of cinema.

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