Last year as well, the two films that collected the most money at the box office — Sultan and Dangal — were both based in rural to semi-rural areas. Take Salman Khan in Sultan, Aamir Khan in Dangal or Akshay Kumar in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha. However, this is far removed from reality. People from small towns and villages are just as layered as people in metros. We had the picture of the sir pe gagri rakhke chalne wali rural woman. But this is not the reality of things and now we are looking at the nuances and complexities of the rural-based character. "Look at most of Hema Malini’s characters, or Rekha chewing ganna and throwing it at Amitabh Bachchan in Mr Natwarlal.Screenplay writer Himanshu Sharma, whose deft words crafted Raanjhanaa, is glad that Bollywood has stopped romanticising poverty through its movies. They don’t want to see anything like the idea certain big films have. "We had this typical picture of a man who works in the field and comes home to have his wife serve him roti and pickle.What’s different about these films though, are the central characters, who no longer conform to the hackneyed small-town archetype. It is a natural progression in cinema and a welcome one,” he states.Rajkumar Rao busted a number of small-town stereotypes in Newton. In fact, the women of India’s villages are the strong breadwinners and leaders of revolutions like the white revolution, on which the film Manthan was made. Now, we are just going back to those roots,” Omar points out. Keshav (Akshay Kumar) of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha endeavours to set up a sanitation system in rural India and Newton (essayed by Rajkumar Rao) defies the age-old socio-political set-up around his town in Chattisgarh. We will find our feet, we just need some world class writing,” he concludes. The result of course, can be seen in the box office. There is a certain western romantic vibe that is not clicking.Last year as well, the two films that collected the most money at the box office — Sultan and Dangal — were both based in rural to semi-rural areas. We are trying and there is a lot going on.— With inputs from Uma Ramasubramanian.The director says, "Bollywood has been one of the biggest culprits when it comes to perpetuating stereotypes — whether it is the comical Bengali or Bihari character, or the conservative small-town character.Indeed, one reason why these actors may be ready to step into the shoes of rural characters is that these homegrown films have been resonating well with the audience. We need to make better films.Indeed, many of India’s traditional heroines were strong characters from rural set-ups. People want to see more rooted romantic stories. "It is a complete misconception to think that people from villages are conservative. Just this year, there were films based in smaller hamlets and sleepy tier-two cities like Newton, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Anarkali of Aarah — the list goes on. "And all of these characters are multifaceted characters that go against the typical stereotype of a rural personality,” Avinash points out. Secret Superstar’s protagonist, Insu, played by Zaira Wasim, follows her dream and takes a risk by pursuing a career in singing at a young age. "Even superstars are taking up the mantle of ordinary small-town people.Film critic Omar Qureshi says that the breaking down of stereotypes was inevitable and people just needed to realise that it is in the villages that many social revolutions begin. Saif Ali Khan admits that people are no longer interested in exotic locales with larger-than-life characters. China Glitter Toilet Seats Secret Superstar poster Aamir Khan’s upcoming film Secret Superstar is just one in the latest wave of films that are being based in rural area or small towns of India. It is much later that Parveen Sultana and Zeenat Aman changed the image of the Indian heroine. "People want to see Indian stories. So, it’s a really good thing that we are beginning to step out of the stereotypes of small-town and big city people,” he explains, adding that it is probably the realistic depiction that Bollywood is now giving its characters that has led to this tendency to break small-town character moulds. So now people are going back to telling these real-life stories, because the hinterlands are much more than just thakurs, and dacoits,” he explains.Another positive sign for rural-based films is the fact that even superstars have started to act in them, says Avinash. Director Avinash Das portrayed his erotic folk dancer as a fierce women’s rights crusader, who stands up for herself when she is molested.Perhaps one of the earliest such films made this year was Anaarkali of Aarah.

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