The 1965 slogan of 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan' hailed the soldier and the farmer as icons of patriotism and hard work. But today the Indian farmer is no longer counted upon as a hero in the nation's growth, not even on the big screen.

Bhandarkar blames 'lack of audience' as the main reason for the rural theme getting sidelined in Bollywood.

'Movie viewers usually go to cinema halls to escape reality. Most of the audience is made up of mall-hopping youngsters who will not be able to relate to the topic and hence will not enjoy it,' he said.

'These films should be presented in a way that best suits people's mentality. Urban India is very unaware of the problems faced by farmers and unless they (films) are presented in a particular manner they will not work,' he said.

Mahesh Bhatt too feels that such films are not commercially viable.

'They are very appealing but not very financially viable. They are viable only if the names making these films are big or intelligence is used in making such projects. Filmmakers don't want to use topics which might have any chances of not making it big and would rather stick to money minting projects,' he said.

In recent times Aamir Khan's 'Lagaan', which was set in a village in pre-independent India, did exceptionally well. But many feel the film's success was due to the sub theme of cricket.

Apparently, Bollywood perfectionist Aamir has shown interest in producing a film based on the plight of farmers in Bhopal. Anusha Rizvi, a former journalist with first hand knowledge of the issue, is going to direct it while Raghuvir Yadav has been roped in to play the lead.

'It's not that these issues are irrelevant; on the contrary, they are more relevant now than ever before. These topics are very good and should be touched upon more often. There would be a large audience which would be interested in watching such meaningful cinema,' said Bhatt.

(Robin Bansal can be contacted at robin.b@ians.in)