Small is big in corporate Bollywood

By Shilpa Jamkhandikar

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Corporates are increasingly coming to the rescue of filmmakers trying to find a niche in India's film industry, one where big budgets and an array of film stars are beyond the reach of many.

A Bollywood film without elaborate song-and-dance sequences may not be the norm but some directors have taken the leap -- and survived.

"Ten years ago, it would have been difficult to make a small budget, no star film in Bollywood, but today people are realising that small can be big and big can be small," said Raj Kumar Gupta.

Gupta's debut film "Aamir" made its mark last month despite opening in cinemas the same day as the big-budget "Sarkar Raj".

While he was scouting around for producers, Gupta found many insisting he pick an established Bollywood star to play a Muslim doctor unwittingly trapped in a Mumbai terror plot.

But the director was adamant.

"I was convinced that if an established star essayed the role, the person would be bigger than the character, which is something I didn't want," Gupta said.

Production house UTV picked up the film, convinced the script was a winner but aware of its restrictions. And television actor Rajeev Khandelwal made his Bollywood debut.