Well said. However, as long as majority of the audiences are willing to lap up the emotional "crises" of the ultra-richies living in European mansions and celebrating "karva chauths" and other pseudo-religous activities, I am afraid we will see more of the puke-fests like K3G and Baghbaan ( Was Salman on Prozac or what?). I am afraid that the directors you mentioned at the end ( save Farhan Akhtar) will just fade away for trying to be different.
I don't agree with u, Sunil! It's not about growing up.. Even after so many movies where they talk about parents love for their children, do the children today still love their parents or respect them?? The Johars, Chopras, Mizra's and the Barjatya's try to do that! What if emotions are added to it?? If it tries to change the generation of today into soft people who love and respect their parents, then i think it's very good.. And in the case of Chalte Chalte and kal Ho Naa Ho, it's a case of entertainment.. Do we all come to films to watch a story?? We want entertainment! We just do not come to a cinema hall just to watch art films and Tabu dancing in a bar (Chandni Bar)?? Who said Dil Chahtha Hai was not appreciated?? Check out your information again Sir! It's a superhit movie and was accepted in a big way! Check your facts and then write articles!
RE:i don't agree..
by Saaz on Jan 12, 2004 04:13 PM
That's excatly where the problem is.
If Tabu's performance is not what you appreciate,then it is obviously the women from the family dramas.Not to forget the "entertaining" SRK.By indirectly disparaging a powerhouse performer like Tabu for that extremely well directed and "accepted" film,you've proved why films which "save" bollywood everyyear are only these "family" dramas.
There's nothing wrong in liking saccharine nonsense because then ,DDLJ was damn good.But too much of it certainly sucks big-time.
And hello!A fantastic Dil Chahta Hai was accepted well alright,but it was yards away from the usual circus.And you know that.So no one needs to "check" facts here.
A very bold article. We're eagerly waiting for the day when the filmmakers don't compromise with box-office and reflect some intellect in their films. The only problem in Bollywood is that the films are centered around the star actors and not newer concepts. Reverse is true in Hollywood where a novel concept is generated first and an appropriate actor is chosen for the role.
I agree with the writer to some extent about how the range of hindi movies is being stunted thanks to the same old hackneyed emotional plots. but in the past few years we HAVE seen some really refreshing AND entertaining movies. let us not forget that one of the primary aims (not the only one) of cinema is to entertain. if it makes u think and ponder over issues that is a bonus. if the same old plots are presented repeatedly, but with a different treatment it's not so bad as long as it doesn't take the viewers to be complete idiots! an advantage of this can be seen that it brings the old stories to each new generation. and it cannnot be denied, that emotions are what appeal most to human beings. yes, limiting oneself to only that genre is not right. but at the same time, if ALL the movies made in bollywood were intelligent,thought-provoking and different that would get somewhat broing too. a sprinkling of laughter,tears,emotions and drama once in a while reminds us that we are humans and make us feel good. in a society where we are increasingly feeling alienated from everyone else, it's not too much to ask of our minds to tolerate the urgings and needs of the heart once in a while.
The mammoth hits are invariably one's with everyone dancing aroung loudly in chorus,wearing silks day and night;women in full makeup even when they wake up early morning...and last but not the least endless karwa chauths to prove wonder what.These things are okay once or may be twice;even really good films(Hum Dil De Chuke..DDLJ...for instance) incoporate such things to just to suit the large number of audience,even when they can actually do without looking like a festival all the time.They are all cousins of HAHK which was first of it's kind after many many years.
Some clowns do it in London and New York to show designer wear and bank on huge star casts,while others do it in a more subtle way.Nevertheless, most of them look like what television serials appear to be these days.
But such things will never change.It happens only here.
donno abt chalte chalte n baghban as i havent seen them(may b i knew they were such crap movies )neither did i have the interest to watch them.but kal ho naa ho was just a crazy movie!can Shahrukh performm any worse(couldnt stand his weeping !)i really wonder how ppl tolerate such pathetic,rubbish ,nonsense....whatever acting that was!selfpity!and he wins best actor awards for such films!i think if such movies were made in any of the regional languages they would such big flops!n such bad acting!dunno which was worse k3g or khnh.these are movies with frills n no steel!
I found the above-mentioned 3 films to be very good. I dont need a break from these so-called formulaic films. I found DCH to be good, but of all the movies that have been recounted here, I thought the best of them was Kal Ho Na Ho. Cliched - did I hear you say cliched ? Then cliched it will be. Gimme more of the so-called "cliched" films any day please.
You are basically right. Watching a film like Dutt's Pyaasa it's obvious that maybe one Bollywood film a year comes somewhat close, and that's not nearly enough.
I agree to a certain extent to the critic.The new -age cinema has for sure arrived in India,though a few take a note of it.We are still looking at larger than life heroes/lavish sets and Swiss locales/melodrama/routine song sequences etc.
A welcome change was "Jogger's Park"/"Mumbai Matinee"/"Mr. & Mrs. Iyer.Each of these films for sure kepps you thinking.But alas,we are still glued to the Karinas and the Eshas.
