We should have
written this a long time back. “Laziness, thou art a heartless bitch!”
I am not an
ardent cinema enthusiast and certainly not a movie fanatic. In fact, in none of
the myriad parallel universes seething in the vast ocean of cosmic hyperspace
am I even mildly obsessed with the chronicles of the celluloid. Having said
that, I’d like to take a stand here this day. Courtesy, the excruciating long
vacations, I’ve spent an unbelievable part of my time before LCDs, delving into
the tinsel world on the other side of the screen and these escapades have
rendered me aghast this summer.
It amazes me to
see the kind of cinema we celebrate today.
The movies, they
are a bizarre concoction of senseless story-lines, predictable scripts,
pathetic screenplay, puerile dialogs and absurd performances, thriving
primarily on scintillating romance, lewd comedy, hideous action or lately even
erotic (read erratic) thrillers. Flourishing in utopian settings and depicting
implausible scenarios, these films, save a few, are barely a reflection of the
society- 120+ unbearable minutes of undue drama and frenzy.
TV serials and
soaps, I realized, go still more miles in serving the viewers the most
unrealistic settings where apparently anything happens to anybody anytime.
Precariously laid on similar story-lines of a shrewd woman who looks ravishing
in her typical wicked smile (aka the ‘Vamp’) tormenting an innocent woman who
looks beautiful in tears (aka the ‘Lead’), these serials are pathetic attempts
of uselessly dragging a long lost story line on and on. The creators (assuming
they are) do this incessantly either by deliberately developing some ‘setting’
between the leads (who always live in filthy rich homes and bungalows and are
all “businessmen”) based on some current Bollywood chartbuster or by their classical
‘frame repeating’ or ‘frame dragging’ sequences of ‘Nahi… Nahi… Nahi…’ or
‘Slap… Slap… Slap…’ as the audience (the woman folk) watches, gripped and dumb
struck all the while. The newly budding reality TV is another blatant slap on
the face of reality, prospering on revelations and sensationalism.
Today, there
remains very little scope on the big and small screen for capturing the common
man’s plight, the realistic struggles, social encounters and emotional turmoil
he encounters in the real world every day. In fact most of our so called successful
movies, TV and reality series are exhibits of sheer plagiarism, hopelessly
derivative and unoriginal- clumsy remakes of old flicks, horrible adaptations
of their English or American counterparts, utter misinterpretations of classics,
unnecessary sequels to past hits and glorification of some hitherto unknown
literature. There is no creativity employed in the cinematography. Just films
and serials made for the sake of making, with popular faces roped in (even
‘item numbers’ incorporated) to raise box-office revenues or TRPs. The
perplexed viewer is left browsing the idiot box, surfing through channels for
something worthwhile and truly entertaining.
It’s not that
the scene is absolutely hopeless. There are people doing justice to cinema in
their own ways but their count is very low. Yes, given that we resort to the
virtual world to relax and ease our senses and shed logic and reason for a
while to escape from the real world, but at the end of a weary day, person only
wishes to see something comforting with the entire family and this event,
sadly, today is statistically unlikely to occur.
It’s the way we
spend our time that makes us who we are. We have had works in the past that we
are proud of and which are a standing testimony to our enormous abilities.
Today we ought to start being and believing in ourselves, feel proud of our
identity, look inward and around for a billion beautiful story-lines unveiling
themselves every moment in our great nation. All we need is an eye for
observation and an elegant way of storytelling to capture these wonderful experiences
on the reel- ‘Lights… Camera… Action…’
Dude(s) have always loved the way you bring out the glitches that the modern society of ours face, but in all sincerity did not much find this article as gripping as probably you know you are capable of. And there are some reasons to it. Firstly you picked something stale an article that I read in Times of India two years ago, everybody is aware of where the Indian cinema and television industry is going if not has gone to. But then who can you really blame I mean look at the stats Wanted, Dabangg, Ready, Rowdy Rathore, Bodyguard and now to add to that comes Ek tha Tiger all our are 100 crores+ grossers. They have a fantastic story line.....ummmm....I really cant comment but do they appeal to the masses..... u 'll hear a resounding YES. You see in a country of 1.4 billion you'll find very few people who share an intellectual view point like yours compared to those who dont. Yes movies like 3 Idiots, Black, Kahani are coming up increasingly but the question is WHY will any producer invest his money on a gamble of intellect rather than a sure shot conviction offered by say a Masala action movie. It s a business venture at the end of the day and the market forces of Demand and Supply will take their toll. Secondaly how can we comment on someone's taste I mean hasnt it been often enough that we ourselves have switched to some shear non sensical "Govinda" movie just to relax ourselves, so you just cant wipe of something as "nonsense"cause you dont happen to share that viewpoint. I agree with you that Indian cinema faces a huge defecit as far as ingenuinity is concerned but yet again look at the statistcs "Agneepath" a remake was the second highest grosser this year so clearly lack of genuinity is not exactly costing people much is it? And I know am being very harsh but Dude whats with the last paragraph it seems right out of a value education book....look into ourselves? Feel proud of our identity? Why? Cause Salman Khan just made a 200cr movie again? It's a great article no doubt and I am being too critical I confess but still this is something I believe you need to look into.
ReplyDeletePS- You are the Unkempt Sophomer"s" there are two of you dont start your blog with an " I " it somehow potrays singularity of emotions.
Its not about blaming or statistics or economics and certainly not about ‘intellectual level’. It's about what needs to be done. Because at times (as you have been told before) truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes people DESERVE MORE. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.
DeleteThe key thing is, if you can use a medium as influential as cinema to give the audience something to think and cherish after they leave a theater (apart from raising crores at the box-office), then why not? In the end it does boil down to your will. It’s like a person will remain happy with a Nokia 1100 only until he hasn’t seen a smart phone, cause they are ‘intellectual’ enough to differentiate b/w the 2 and decide what’s better. ‘Ye public hai boss, ye sab janti hai…’
The average viewer is evolving and so should the Indian cinema. In this information era, what would be disheartening to see would be the former outpacing the latter. Bollywood’s come a long way from the age of the 'hero-heroine' romancing in flower gardens and police jeeps rushing into the climax to glorify a dying hero, to the age of unconventional, more realistic and even inspirational story-lines. So CHANGE (as you know better than most, I guess) is both necessary and inevitable. Its high time we step up and embrace it. What say Mr. Utkarsh?
Then, you couldn’t have been more wrong in interpreting the last part as some sort of ‘value education’. The point we wanted to drive home was- why should our cinema, as a reflection of a culture as rich and diverse as ours, as well as an art form, be hopelessly west-bound and inspired by others? Why do we need to turn a blind eye to (as you unmistakably state) those 1.4 billion experiences flourishing in this intriguing place? So much so that lately even the west’s looked towards us for inspirational story-lines, collecting accolades at the ultimate stage. That’s about ‘looking inward’ and ‘feeling proud of our identity’.
Delete(PS: And don’t worry about the ‘singularity of emotions’. ‘OUR’ views, ‘I’ assure you, are amply plural and The Unkempt Sophomores stick to the latter version of the first person merely for convention)
Ha ha ha..... I think I reviewed a little more harshly than what I d like to believe is the ongoing trend. Fair enough!!! Consequently a response might be anticipated so "I" (going by the standard rules of grammar than any apparent convention :p)would say that I completely agree with Cristopher Nolan ( and consequently you) that sometimes people deserve more than the truth. And if what you say is to be believed then the methodology you suggest is that Indian cinema must encompass the "exciting" stories of the 1.4 billion people that abound this holy land. Brilliant! Cause what you just suggested not only did make Indian Cinema riveting ( holding up a sign that reads "SARCASM" :p) but you also sorted the age old Indian problems of poverty and unemployment cause now everyone by the very virtue of their living will become story tellers and people sharing a view point as yours will become directors. Hmmmm the only question that really puzzles me is "Is every story really worth telling?". Food for thought. Moreover recently when a Rohit Shetty film Bol Bachan hit theatres rather empathically another lesser known movie was released to much lesser crowd called "Alaap". The movie was on how Music and Peace can be used as effective medicine to nurse the wounds of the Naxalites. A different yet intellectual concept that sort of crash landed. I 'll tell you, you say the modern viewer is "evolving" which in turn is a synonym for developing. Now developing is a word that I personally am not very comfortable with, you see India is developing so now the usage of the word has changed from the meaning intended to the irony implied. I agree with your entire argument that cause it has the power to influence Cinema has certain responsibilities, but all I am saying is it that it wont realise those unless some incentive is given to it. Your argument will hold merit only on a day when say a Salman Khan release will draw equal amount of crowd than say a Satyajit Ray re release, and I doubt that s hardly the case today. And since reference to Batman has become almost mandatory in our discussions you know what the sole morality in an unfair world is, right? The only real remedy that comes to my mind (and you’ll probably get annoyed at my stereotypical answer for all problems) lies in educating the masses and making them aware. So the verdict that’ll be given thereafter will rank much higher on a logical scale than any adrenaline rush that Indian masala movies provide. Having had said that I also am aware that such reforms are not present anywhere in the near future so even I ‘d prescribe the same medicine as you did, “ Leave it to the Audience!”.
ReplyDeletePS- I know that the analogy was in no way intended personally but just so that you may know I possess a Nokia 101 not a Nokia 1100 Bazinga!!!
Again, it’s not any methodology (and certainly not ‘my methodology’) but a worthy option that’s not being considered. Because if you look back, some of our ‘memorable’ (and I don’t use the term ‘top grossing’) flicks HAVE been about capturing common experiences with detail and the touch of a keen observer- the writer/director. I have and will abstain from naming any. So these stories are worth improvising on, if not telling as such.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I do feel annoyed by your ‘stereotypical answer to all problems’- educating the masses devoid of any ‘methodology’. ‘Leaving it to the audience’ must be the last refuge. We’ve a long way to go before we’re left with just that. As for some of our Batman touch- “This country deserves a better class of cinema and someone’s gonna give it to us…”
PS- He’s Christopher Nolan. How could you’ve possibly erred on that? :P