From top: Posters of Shor in the City, I AM and Ragini MMS; (above) a still from Dus Tola

It was the stamp of royal approval. On March 31 Yash Raj Films, the Bollywood powerhouse known for its multi-crore blockbusters, set the cameras rolling at a new, crisply named division called Y-Films. Y-Films will make low-budget, NextGen movies aimed at young mall-going city slickers. First out of the cans will be Luv ka The End in early May. And two more movies likely to be released later this year.

In February, Viacom 18 raised the curtain on Tipping Point Films, its new banner that’ll make tightly-budgeted prod-uctions aimed at youngsters. For starters, the banner will focus on three to four films a year. Coming up soon is Shaitan and then Michael starring Naseeruddin Shah and Mahie Gill. Says its COO, Vikram Malhotra : “Today’s youth understands world cinema. So, there is definitely a multiplex audience that would love to see edgy, non-formulaic films.”

Small budget experimental movies have been around for some time now. But Bollywood has realised that cutting-edge, small films targeted at urban youngsters — be it romantic comedies or horror movies — can be money-spinners and it is organising itself accordingly.

“We want to create a compelling wave of cinema for the New-Age audience,” says Ekta Kapoor, joint managing director, Balaji Telefilms, who last year launched ALT Entertainment, to make low-cost movies for younger urban audiences.

Producers who are making a difference: (From top) Tanuj Garg and Ekta Kapoor of ALT Entertainment; Sanjay Bhattacharya and Sushama Reddy of Seven Islands Studio; Vikas Bahl, who’s just launched a new production house; Vikram Malhotra of Tipping Point Films; Ashish Patil of Y-films; Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla and Onir of Anticlock Films; Pix by Gajanan Dudhalkar

ALT’s first production was the highly successful Love Sex aur Dhoka directed by Dibakar Banerjee which dealt with urban sexuality. It was a winner in a lean year when bigger films bombed. Up next from ALT are Shor in the City, a black comedy directed by first timers Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, scheduled for release on April 28 and a paranormal thriller, Ragini MMS, by Pawan Kripalani on May 13. Three more projects from ALT are in advanced stages of planning and will release in the next 12-15 months.

Says Kapoor: “Unlocking the power of interesting scripts and young filmmakers are our main priorities.” This is the new Bollywood where both the very biggest and the smaller production houses are realising that small is big and that a film succeeds not on the basis of an expensive star cast but on the strength of content. “Our aim is to be a platform for emerging talents in direction, script-writing, acting or music,” says Ashish Patil, vice president, business and creative head, Y-films.

These films are being aimed at the youth market in various subtle ways. Take for instance, Y-films’ fare. Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge (to be released in August) is an anti-rom-com based on a social networking theme, and there’s also a tech-based caper, Virus Diwan, directed by Bumpy (who used to direct MTV Roadies), where the hero is a hacker.

It isn’t just the big boys who’re aiming high in this sector. Vikas Bahl, former chief of UTV Spotboy that’s been making low-budget movies for quite some time, is now set for a second coming in the film industry. Bahl’s set up his own production company and is ready to release his Rs 4-crore debut film, Chillar Party, along with co-director Nitesh Tiwari on May 6.

“Though the company is taking baby steps, I have ambitious plans for the kind of films I want to produce,” says Bahl. He adds: “We’ll be looking at fresh talent in script-writing and direction as I believe that a strong script will determine a film’s fate.”

It’s obvious what’s fuelling this trend. Last year, except for Dabangg, most of the blockbuster productions failed to live up to expectations. By contrast, many of the smaller productions — some with youth-oriented themes — were hits. These included films like ALT Entertainment’s Love Sex aur Dhoka, Tere Bin Laden by Walkwater Media and Band Baaja Baaraat by Yash Raj Films. This year movies like Dhobi Ghat and UTV Spotboy’s No One Killed Jessica proved that the shoestring revolution is here to stay.

Trade expert Amod Mehra reckons, “With big budget films flopping, it’s inevitable that Bollywood needs to come out of the formulaic star-backed films.”

But can these films make the cut in terms of box-office returns? The filmmakers are convinced about the future and are ready to put their money on the younger generation. Says Patil: “Today, the 15-35 age group cannot be ignored. So it’s a conscious strategy to change the templates of filmmaking and create unconventional stuff.”

Who are the actors appearing in these small-budget flicks? At one level a lot of rank newcomers are making their debut here. Y-Films will launch a slew of fresh faces this year like Arjun Kapoor (son of producer Boney Kapoor) in Virus Diwan. Then there’s Shraddha Kapoor and Tahaa Shah in Luv ka The End.

And many of the top names too are doing offbeat stuff and even taking a risk by doing ‘de-glam’ roles. Aamir Khan surprised audiences in Dhobi Ghat and then there was a very toned down Vidya Balan (along with Rani Mukherjee) in No One Killed Jessica. Says Vidya Balan: “I went with the de-glam look because that was in keeping with the mood of the story.”

Then there are indie film directors and producers who’ve also been taking aim at the youth movie-watching market. For instance, director Onir who along with actors Sanjay Suri and Juhi Chawla set up an independent production house Anticlock Films. Onir, who earlier directed My Brother Nikhil and Sorry Bhai, is ready to release his forthcoming film I AM on April 29.

Onir, who made the film on a budget of Rs 2, crore financed it entirely through Facebook wherein 400 people across 47 cities of the world contributed for the ‘issue-based’ project. “We asked people on Facebook who believed in the subject to contribute generously and the funds came pouring in,” says Onir. Anticlock Films has an impressive line-up this year — Shabd and The Face will be directed by Onir and Kill Chabra by Ashwin Mallick. Onir will still be relying on Facebook to fund the projects.

Stills from Michael and Shaitan (top)

There’s also indie producers Sanjay Bhattacharya and actress Sushama Reddy with their production house Seven Islands Studio. After their first film Dus Tola (2010), promoted by Warner Bros, their forthcoming films include a comic caper called National Roaming directed by Prayas Gupta and two international projects called The Stamp Collector based on author Vishwapriya Iyenger’s short story No Letter From Mother and Tibet which is based on a book Flight at the Cuckoo’s Behest written by Dorjee Wangdi Dewatshang. Says Bhattacharya: “We are looking at books as source materials to develop our scripts. We’re also looking at home-grown talent for content-development.”

But working on tight budgets can be tough. Production costs must be cut to the bone and marketing and promotion costs have to be kept low — so it’s important to get the maximum bang for the buck possible. So, new firms are trying out innovative marketing strategies like promoting their films on the social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

“When it comes to selling an independent or small budget film, it’s vital to work smart,” says Pooja Shetty Deora, who along with her sister Aarti, brought new business practices to their father Manmohan Shetty’s production company Walkwater Media. Their first Hindi film last year Tere Bin Laden directed by newcomer Abhishek Sharma was one of those small budget films that not only garnered positive reviews but also raked in about Rs 50 crore (it was made for Rs 5 crore). Says Sharma, “Six months before the release of the film, we went ahead with the trailer in the theatres. We also came up with 15-second spots on TV filled with witty one-liners as opposed to 30 seconds which brought in more visibility.”

Now Sharma is busy writing the next script for the company. Others too are trying out innovative strategies to market their films. So, while Y-films is looking at the digital space and social networking sites, ALT Entertainment too is targeting college kids. Says Tanuj Garg, CEO, ALT Entertainment: “For Shor in the City we organised a ‘singles party’ where youngsters were offered drinks like the Shor Shot. Also for Ragini MMS we are positioning it as a ‘scariest date movie’ and will be organising midnight shows for young couple in theatres.”

Certainly as Bollywood struggles for inspiration, it’s reaching out to a new crop of directors, actors, technicians and writers. Says Garg: “We are targeting a young bunch of directors, diploma students and youngsters from film schools for creative ideas. Youngsters can also approach us with their scripts and if they are interesting we’ll give them a chance.” Patil too reckons that Y-films will be a platform for films “made for the youth, by the youth and of the youth.” Onir’s Anticlock Films on the other hand is organising workshops for aspiring filmmakers in Andaman, Srinagar and Shillong to nurture more talent from small-towns.

In fact, everyone is now thinking small. Says Abhinav Kashyap, director, of last year’s big winner Dabangg: “For any industry to grow it has to come up with a robust offering of both experimental and mainstream movies. Though I am more a mainstream filmmaker, I might end up making an experimental film in the future. At the end of the day, what matters is how convincingly you tell a story and whether you make good cinema...”