Anubhav Sinha, originally trained as an engineer, felt the attraction of filmmaking, starting his move to Mumbai to pursue his directorial ambitions. His journey began as an assistant director on various television shows, gradually paving the path to independence. By 1994, he made his mark as an autonomous director with his own television show.
Anubhav Sinha’s directorial debut, ‘Tum Bin’, emerged as one of the standout hits of 2001, marking the beginning of his notable career.Over the years, he has explored various genres, directing films such as ‘Dus’, ‘Ra.One’ and ‘Tum Bin 2′. In a candid conversation with ETimes, Sinha talked about his debut film and said, “Some people thought that the first half was slow, and some people thought the second half was slow. People came and saw the film and they said whatever they had to say. And then I was in the middle of the ocean trying to figure out this response. I’m talking about pre-release. And then I did whatever I had to do. Then it became successful, and then it happened to me several times. So, during those days, the call rested with the director, and it still does, to an extent, at least, there’s a pretense for it.”
He added, “So, we have climbed those mountains on our own. So, we have the confidence that, no, we trust our instincts more than we trust the data that is monitoring day in and day out, some meaningless data, test screenings, and stuff. Now the distributor also knows about the making of the film, and everybody knows everything about the film, but that’s not the case. Nobody knows anything about the film.”
The filmmaker added, “Such a young art, it’s still developing. And I think the flight of the director is terribly curtailed today. When we worked with those independent producers, they would have this gut feeling about you. That is how I got my first film. I was directing music videos for Bhushan Kumar and Bhushan called me and said, “Picture kyun nahin banata?” I said, “I have come here to make films only.” He asked me whether I had a story. We met over a meal, I told him the story and within five minutes the film was green-lit. So, money used to earlier foster art, and today that relationship is extremely lopsided. So, money has all the power and the famous game is the algorithm, which to me is a cage.”
Anubhav Sinha’s directorial debut, ‘Tum Bin’, emerged as one of the standout hits of 2001, marking the beginning of his notable career.Over the years, he has explored various genres, directing films such as ‘Dus’, ‘Ra.One’ and ‘Tum Bin 2′. In a candid conversation with ETimes, Sinha talked about his debut film and said, “Some people thought that the first half was slow, and some people thought the second half was slow. People came and saw the film and they said whatever they had to say. And then I was in the middle of the ocean trying to figure out this response. I’m talking about pre-release. And then I did whatever I had to do. Then it became successful, and then it happened to me several times. So, during those days, the call rested with the director, and it still does, to an extent, at least, there’s a pretense for it.”
He added, “So, we have climbed those mountains on our own. So, we have the confidence that, no, we trust our instincts more than we trust the data that is monitoring day in and day out, some meaningless data, test screenings, and stuff. Now the distributor also knows about the making of the film, and everybody knows everything about the film, but that’s not the case. Nobody knows anything about the film.”
The filmmaker added, “Such a young art, it’s still developing. And I think the flight of the director is terribly curtailed today. When we worked with those independent producers, they would have this gut feeling about you. That is how I got my first film. I was directing music videos for Bhushan Kumar and Bhushan called me and said, “Picture kyun nahin banata?” I said, “I have come here to make films only.” He asked me whether I had a story. We met over a meal, I told him the story and within five minutes the film was green-lit. So, money used to earlier foster art, and today that relationship is extremely lopsided. So, money has all the power and the famous game is the algorithm, which to me is a cage.”
