I am tired of Indians both filmmakers and the public
being concerned about the Oscars, who gives a hoot..
Indian movies are made by Indians for Indians and their commercial fate is decided by Indians. Unlike any other country in the world Indian movies make more money in India than Hollywood..
So get away from this the West has to bless everything we do attitude ..
Even american critics are now learning, the wisdom Indians have long had about their own movies, to leave the movie halfway through. It is not a question of not selecting the right film for the Oscars. Bollywood rarely makes an interesting movie. maybe one in five years. They are not concerned or committed to address any aspect of social, cultural or politco-economic reality of India. They are busy presenting fictitious solutions to fictional problems, manufacturing dreams we never dream, goals we never aim for, language we hardly speak, clothes we cannot afford or can rarely wear, relationships we cannot relate too (how childish and stupid those romances) and reality that is a priori impossible. In trying to understand the general and the common they forget the specific, the local, the real. Bollywood movies are like castles in the air, save a few.
If Devdas is the cultural represtation of India, and the novel surely might be one of our great achievements of the past century, the movie is one of the most stupendous waste of resources of this decade. Sharat Chandra never wrote a novel of such glamourous proportions. The tragedy of the novel has roots in a delusional obssessive love not in ego-clashing misunderstandings. The novel is a study of pyschological deviance, of internal conflicts, the movie is a study of glamourous era, aristocratic decadence and loss of innocence and love. Lets get our facts straight here, the novel is not about the loss of love, it is about an obssessive-compulsive behaviour resulting from unrequited, unconsummated love. And when will Bollywood stop importing Indian pride from abroad. Why do they want to restore Indian pride from NRI's and foreign Universities? With all the poverty, misery and corruption there still remains breathtakingly beautiful locales in India, as also stories of great hope and commitment. Bollywood Movies have become sleep-inducing narcotics when they should be alarm-calls, institution of awakening and change, embodied by a renaissance spirit. If Devdas had realised the metaphorical aspects of the unrequited love with a more realistic reference to how people spoke (accent), dressed (clothing, architecture), and even danced in that era to which the novel refers, perhaps the visual/aural aspects would have supported the story bringing it depth and authority. In absence of such things the movie looks like a candy coated dream of a literary and cinematic toddler, who is unable to translate one form of literary expression into another, proving that his (the director's) cultural patriotism is the last refuge of ignorant scoundrel.
And why is any event and mishap important only if it pertain to love or lovers? Is that the only consequence of our misery? don't we have more immediate concerns like surviving? Entire events in independent Indias history have gone unnoticed, and in our movies wars, corrupt politicians, smugglers and black-market bussinessmen, families are contino
Americans do not like the films where there is no story, the film just drags on and on ,what the heck if he could not marry her , find another?? so much of child abuse where devdas's father illtreats his son .I was infact waiting for the release of this much awaited, most spoken movie in usa but it was a huge disappointment.It is not upto the taste of the u.s audience .Bansali should make better films instead of copying originals.One should keep in mind of the western audience if they want thier films to make it to the International scene and win
awards.Wonder how this movie made it till here ???
