Anupama Chopra on what’s holding back documentary-making in India

‘Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli’, a documentary on the ace film director, which is streaming on Netflix, has been garnering a lot of interest. The documentary focuses on Rajamouli’s journey till winning an Oscar last year, with inputs from his family and friends – not just from India, but also global names such as Joe Russo, James Cameron and others. The documentary series is produced by Applause Entertainment and Film Companion Studios and directed by Tanvi Ajinkya and Raghav Khanna.

Producer Anupama Chopra, who is also part of the documentary, spoke to Adgully on the making of the documentary under her banner and much more.

Talking about why she and her studio chose to do documentaries, Anupama said, “The idea solidified through the making of ‘Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli’. All of us working on the documentary loved the process and as we did it, we understood that long form, non-fiction storytelling was a logical extension of the journalism we were already doing. That led to the creation of FC Studios. We specialise in storytelling around cinema, entertainment and pop culture in India. Our approach is to bring rigour, research, passion and integrity to the storytelling.”

However, while documentaries are being made in India, it is a tough task to get backing from big producers. Speaking about her experience, Anupama said, “In the last few years, Indian documentaries have actually made great impact globally, winning prestigious awards, including Oscar nominations. However, distribution continues to be a challenge.”

She further said, I hope that in the next few years, we get to a point when documentaries have theatrical releases. For ‘Modern Masters’, we were fortunate because Netflix came on board. As for support from production houses, we had great partners in Applause, so we’ve been very lucky. The idea was originally floated by my erstwhile colleagues Ranjan Baradwaj and Avinash Prakash. We then took it to Sameer Nair at Applause, who loved it and immediately came on board as a partner.”

While comparing the documentaries made in India with those made globally, she said, “Indian documentaries are making a big impact across the globe. So, I don’t think it would be fair to say that we have a long way to go in presentation or production values. Talent or craft aren’t the challenge, it is more about budgets and distribution.”

Anupama and her studio are planning to make more documentaries on everything and anything related to cinema. Giving details of her vision for coming years, she said, “We want to become the foremost storytellers, creating credible, engaging and entertaining work about Indian cinema. Our mandate is to bridge the gap between cinema and cinema lovers.”