Dibakar Banerjee Critiques Bollywood’s ‘Star System’
Bollywood director Dibakar Banerjee shared his views on the ‘style of the star system.’ During a conversation on the podcast Unfiltered with Samdish, Dibakar Banerjee presented a hypothetical scenario with Shah Rukh Khan, insinuating that even if asked to attend a three-month workshop, the star might agree but could potentially not carry his own. ‘Shanghai’ director indicated the consciousness that stars possess about the financial success of the film.
He expressed a sense of boredom with this situation, where the star and his awareness of box office numbers affect every scene they perform. In response to the question “whether Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh adhere to the ”star system,” Dibakar Banerjee confirmed positively, stating, “Totally.”
Dibakar Banerjee wants to work with Rajkumar Rao
Although he showed eagerness to collaborate with Rajkumar Rao and complimented that he was a talented actor, Dibakar Banerjee made it clear that when bringing up stars like Shah Rukh, he wasn’t only alluding to their stardom level but rather individuals with a mindset or cultural connection directly with the audience, irrespective of the film’s nature.
Dibakar Banerjee on the ‘100 crore club’
Dibakar Banerjee also talked about ‘the emergence of the ‘100 crore club’ and the detrimental impact it had on independent cinema, which was gaining popularity among audiences.
He looked back on the time around 2010 when he was working on “LSD” (Love Sex Aur Dhokha), remembering the initial mention of the 100-crore club. Banerjee pointed out a fascinating aspect of cinema history, highlighting that the trend of stressing a film’s box office success as a reason to watch it began around that period. He expressed concerns with Anurag Kashyap, proposing that this trend implied discouraging audiences from watching indie films due to their lower earnings compared to mainstream ones.
