The role of ‘Originality’ in Making a Movie Better

Originality in movies is just as essential as a good script. Why see the same story told in several ways? Why make it so predictable that it is not enough to keep the audiences glued to their seats? As a student of Film studies, I have studied and known films closely and I have realized that originality is the first and foremost thing that draws people towards it. Audiences are always searching for something new and unique.

Film makers, instead of trying the same beaten paths should try and think from the roots as to what can be portrayed in a different way and strike a difference. There are many quite a few avenues in which originality can fit in, but these are the most common ways. Aspiring film makers, and those who have run out of means to surprise the audience, take a note!

•    A stunning new character! During my tenure in the Film and Television Institute of India, I have learnt that a character has a lot to offer to the movie. A single character can change the way a movie is perceived. So why repeat the same characters saying the same things in different languages? Come up with a character which is real, complex. Close to someone we can relate or may be cannot relate at all!

•    Setup and background matters! It doesn’t always have to be a picturesque Goa or Mauritius. It can be the old lanes of Delhi and Kolkata. The fact that a story can be woven from the gallis of the unexplored part of our cities is still not known to many! Show us something different- break the stereotypes of a picture perfect set and background!

•    The conclusion doesn’t necessarily have to be as per the ‘way it should be’ leave a bit of mystery and let the audience do the thinking. At times, show the most practical possible way of ending a movie.