As Hyderabad Blues turns 20, what's next for Nagesh Kukunoor?

A still from the iconic 1998 film

Sometimes it takes a bad apple to understand that it doesn't really keep the doctor away. And that's the thing about rules, until someone breaks them, you don't quite understand why it is important to do so. Celebrated filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor managed to do just that two decades ago when he made his first low-budget, no-frills romantic comedy, Hyderabad Blues.

In one way, the movie exposed Indian audiences to the world of independent films and in another, it undid some of the stitches in the fabric of Indian cinema. Think of it as darning, which is the process of interweaving the yarn to fix a hole. And the industry in India in the '90s - which was predominated by films with star-studded casts, over-the-top action sequences and glamorously shot music videos - had a gaping hole. With Hyderabad Blues, Kukunoor fixed that in a way or at least mended a part of it.

Nagesh Kukunoor

As the film turns 20, and in the lead up to its screening tonight, organised by Drishyam Films, where the actor-director will be present for a Q&A session, he tells us about the nuances of filmmaking as an independent auteur and reminisces about the past. "I was heavily influenced by American indie cinema. At the time I didn't think that something like this could actually work in India. Making an 82-minute film in three different languages with no songs or a star cast, I mean, what are the chances of something like that actually being released, forget finding an audience? So, I never really cared," he says, explaining how he made the film with a certain amount of candour and honesty and with the approach of screening it at different American film festivals.

"I thought maybe I had a chance in that circuit, but I wanted to use my strength, which is my Indianness, to tell a story that I could relate to. Coincidentally, the first MAMI Film Festival took place in 1997 and they invited me to screen the film. I took the chance and then it took off in a big way," he recalls, elaborating that the workability of his movie only dawned on him when he watched it with Indian audiences at the screenings which were packed.

We inquire about the whisperings of a sequel we keep hearing about. "Is it going to be a web series?" we ask. "Periodically, I keep thinking about it. Now that the web series scene has exploded, I thought it might be interesting to look at it in that light. The biggest hope is that it will have a retro feel because it's based in the '80s. There are a couple of other ideas as well, but nothing has taken shape at the moment. Let's see," he says. Kukunoor has just wrapped up a web-series which is a political drama set in modern-day Mumbai, titled, City of Dreams. "It's in post-production stage and the next few months are going to be pretty hectic so, when the dust settles from that, I think I'll be on to the next thing," he shares.

Much has changed since the film first released in 1998. Today, with the advent of the digital camera and the Internet, the opportunities are aplenty. Kukunoor echoes this as he talks about cameras becoming cheaper by the day, the fast-growing web series environment and an increase in the avenues for exhibition - beginning from a booming festival circuit to something as simple as a YouTube channel - which are all facilitating independent cinema. "The stories are phenomenal, they are varied and finally I think we are going through a good phase and an extremely vibrant time," he says.

"The word indie is used a little loosely but I have always said that independent cinema has a simple rule, which is that it doesn't play by the rules," he remarks, taking us back to the very muted importance of a rotten apple, after all.

ON: Today, 8 pm
AT: PVR Cinemas, Citi Mall, Link Road, Andheri West.
LOG ON TO: drishyamfilms.com (to register)

Trivia blues
' Hyderabad Blues had a shoestring budget of Rs 17lakh
' On the anvil is a horror movie which is a new genre for the director
' In the movie Laxmi, he shot without lights for budget and aesthetic purposes

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