Why audiences and filmmakers are drawn to real-life stories

Manoj Bajpayee’s courtroom drama Sirf Ek Hi Bandaa Kafi Hai became a runaway success on OTT recently. What’s commendable is that the film was an OTT release (Zee5) but owing singularly to the critical acclaim it amassed, it was moved to select theatres. Yes, the reverse happened — from OTT to theatres. A lot of reasons have been ascribed for its feat. A crucial justification that industry insiders believe behind its success is that the film could connect with audiences at a deeper emotional level as it was inspired by real characters and events. A trend very widespread now if we take a quick look at the content offerings of recent years.

Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai is inspired by the Asaram Bapu rape case attorney Poonam Chand Solanki’s real-life experiences. The other OTT hits of recent times: Hansal Mehta’s Scoop is based on the Mumbai crime reporter Jigna Vora’s memoir, Zoya Akhtar-Reema Kagti’s Dahaad is inspired by the notorious serial killer Cyanide Mohan, who would kill women using cyanide-laced contraceptive and the premise of director Vikramaditya Motwane’s series Jubilee comes from the days and tales of the famous real-life couple Himanshu Roy-Devika Rani and their legendary film studio Bombay Talkies. Audiences as well filmmakers are looking for true stories. Non-fiction is reigning supreme.

As a writer of a series of biographies (non-fiction), I recall a meeting with a famous producer who wanted to adapt one of my books for a web series. During the meeting, we discussed many more ideas, some of them fiction. But he remained indifferent to fiction while pushing for true stories ‘even if they are run-of-the-mill’. The producer also emphasised for the true story to be ‘controversial’ — a scam, a con job, a sensational crime or an inspiring ‘hero story’ — promising a quicker turnaround time from paper to screen for them. To prove his point, he named a few big successes of the recent times: SonyLIV’s Scam 1992 - The Harshad Mehta Story, which is now turning into a franchise with a second instalment Scam 2003 based on the stamp paper scam that year. The two hit seasons of Delhi Crime and documentary series Bad boy Billionaires on Netflix, Prakash Jha-Bobby Deol’s Ashram was loosely inspired by Dera Sacha Sauda cult leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Maharani had Huma Qureshi playing a politician inspired by Rabri Devi, the former chief minister of Bihar and explored the controversial fodder scam, Jamtara was a dark tale of credit card scam operated from the small town of Jamtara, Jeet Ki Zid is the story of Major Deependra Singh Sengar, a highly decorated war hero and Avrodh is inspired by the Uri attacks and the following surgical strikes. The recent Jio Cinema hit series Inspector Avinash is based on the life of super-cop Avinash Mishra… Phew! The list just goes on and on.

wknd@khaleejtimes.com