Milan Luthria on biopics: Did I care if Dangal was a true story?

Milan Luthria

His directorial venture, The Dirty Picture (2011), loosely based on the life of South actor Silk Smitha, received acclaim, but Milan Luthria believes that the enthusiasm showcased by viewers for the biopic genre will soon fizzle out. The filmmaker, who was part of a panel discussion along with Hansal Mehta, Nandita Das and Piyush Gupta, says a director's or writer's "laziness" prompts him/her to work on a biopic instead of crafting original stories.

Hansal Mehta

"Earlier, we did not have buyers for biopics. But today, they are widely accepted. But I am afraid we might reach a saturation point. People [directors] chase it [the genre] without even knowing why they are doing so. I feel, there might be laziness in writing. It is difficult to chart out a road map or work on a story with a new character. A reference point always makes things easier for writers," he said.

Mehta, however, said films will continue to entertain if the subject is engaging. "Did I care if Dangal was a true story? To some extent, yes. But, do I care that it was entertaining? Yes. We have always cried that we do not have good stories, but we need to work hard to find them."

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