New Delhi: Bollywood Dreams is a short but insightful documentary, portraying the struggles of thousands of dreamers who abandon their homes to make it big in the tinsel town. Every year, lot many youngsters leave their homes in small towns to realize their dream of becoming a celebrity but unfortunately majority of ‘dreamers’ come crashing down without a whimper.
With fire in their belly and zeal to replicate a star’s journey in Bollywood, they flock to city of dreams but often they land up in penury & at times troubling circumstances force them to retreat. Only a minuscule percentage of ‘home quitters’ strike a moolah in the industry.
‘Bollywood Dreams’ documentary is a poignant tale of the journey of these ‘strugglers’ who land in city to become big stars. It brings to the fore many heartfelt stories of individuals who decided to take the plunge in an industry with cut-throat competition and very less success rate.
The documentary made under the banner of Al Jazeera has been written & directed by award winning filmmaker Guatam Singh. Through this documentary, he has tried to explore dreams of Indian living in hinterlands and hoping to make it big in the tinsel town.
In the four part series, the documentary has gone beyond the silver screen and collated stories of various dreamers who decided to quit it all for chasing their dream. The series will give a peek into the minds & hearts of these dreamers as to why they chose to leave all comfort in life for a very ‘unrewarding’ profession.
Gautam Singh rightly describes it succinctly, Bollywood is a flourishing industry with a revenue of about $2.7 billion/year but it’s a comfy place for only a select few.
“Most of the staff work & live in a pitiable & unhygienic condition and majority of them work long hours merely to eke out a living, leave aside human rights & dignity,” Singh said.
Capturing ‘Struggle to Stardom’ journey
Giving his take on the Al Jazeera’s documentary Bollywood Dreams, Anjum Rajabali, President of Screen writers’ association said, “Out of 10,000 person looking to make it big in Bollywood, only 1 person succeeds.”
The documentary is creating buzz ahead of its release, mainly because of the content it has focused on. Its 4 part series namely Big Dreams, Daydreams & Nightmares, Dare to Dream and Recurring Dreams bring to the screen – the individual stories of ‘struggle to stardom’.
Big Dreams is story of a woman Rajini who dreams of her name being flashed on billboards of Mumbai, Daydreams & Nightmares is tragic story of stuntman whose death defying stunt left him paralysed. Dare to Dream captures the journey of Vijaya, whose love for folk dance Lavani becomes a baggage while Recurring Dreams is about a story of 2 people – young man & old man, both struggling to find stardom in the Tinsel Town.
You can watch Bollywood Dreams on all Al Jazeera English platforms, starting from October 2022.
