To 'See'nema or not to See

Tell me first… or rather ask yourself. ‘When was the last time you came out satisfied out of a movie hall?’
Hmm… I’d say 3 days ago when I watched ‘Family-Ties of Blood’.
Well the movie was good. Amitabh Bachhan was once again at his best perfectly acting out his part as the kingpin of crime. Akshay Kumar undoubtedly at his very best doing the comic scenes. But I think who-is-this-weird-looking-guy rookie Aryeman could have got better exposure.

But hey I am not here to discuss the characters or the movie for that sake. I am here to try and find out that why out of the so many Hindi movies releasing every year only a select few are even worth mentioning. And even those out of the select few are ‘inspired’ from Hollywood flicks. Eg: ‘Ek Ajnabi’ inspired, or more like copied, from ‘Man on Fire’. Now even though I like Denzel Washington I’d rather watch Amitabh. But the point is that why is there a lack of original ideas.

If you ask me that why don’t I suggest an idea, hold on, cause I have asked myself that already. But then I got the answer to my previous question. Although I got quite some interesting ideas I realized that these are the kinds of movies that people would rather call as documentaries. Perhaps that’s why the filmmakers are not concerned bout those matters.

The need for change factor
It seems cinemagoers have diff tastes these days. And it keeps changing. Yesterday they liked action movies more. Today they like the movie depending on the amount of skin shown. I myself rather decide bout a movie by its star cast and this has had its side effects. Mangal Pandey. Do I need say more?! These so called bold movies must have started with some one movie that was actually good and had a decent amount of exposure. But filmmakers must have overlooked the good story part and concentrated on the naked part.
I cannot say it’s their fault completely. A seller cannot sell something unless there is someone to buy it. Our mainstream Indian audience consists mostly of good for nothing teenagers. Trust me cause I was one of them once (actually I am not a teenager anymore but mom suggests I am still good for nothing…but hey ,I blog, that’s gotta count for something ehh!). When I say good for nothing I mean in terms of maturity. At that age and time of one’s life it’s difficult to decide what’s good and what’s not. It’s more of a herd mentality kind of thing. Go where the herd goes. Eat what herd eats. Watch what the crowd watches. Or sometimes it like things hitting the right spot. At some point of time David Dhawan and Govinda were the right mixture for time pass. (Ok sorry for overreacting…they were not an example of good movie making yet they used to relax you for 3 hrs…think bout the laughs and sleep you could get…it was all your choice). Some time ago it was the gangster movies with unlimited gunshots that clicked.

Sad but true
People have lost the love for movies with good storylines. Now they are asking as for something else. Like what more can you give, other than the blah blah story, the so-so characters and all. So filmmakers now rely on the unexpected twists and turns in their movies. Eg: Bluff Master. Another factor that is affecting the movie’s success is the publicity stunts. Ads, music releases, posters etc.
Talking about music releases … I think this has played a major role in attracting the audience (why else do u think people know Emraan Hashmi…his every movie seems to have hit the target thru the music in his flicks). To tell you the truth even I, being a music lover, have been forced to get Emraan’s movie’s audio cds.
Now the ad arena is a different story. Although ad gurus have stuck to the idea of show glimpses of the movies, they now have started showing dialogues from the movie so that people tend to believe that the characters have given a powerful delivery. Eg: Jo Bole So Nihaal (for those who came in late I am talking bout the ‘no if no but sirf jatt’ statement by our own Arnold, Sunny Deol). The most recent effective ads have been, I must say surprisingly, Aryan and Fight Club. And then there is also Rang De Basanti which, I hope, is a success story. Why? Cause if it isn’t we’ll b seeing the end of the Aamir hype. I mean after the Mangal Pandey disaster, if Aamir delivers another flop then he is sure to need a bigger bang than Lagaan to bounce back.

I can keep blabbering about movies and the theory all day long. But I wish really that Hollywood did show some spark in the movies so that I’ll b wanting to see Hindi flicks rather than just Hollywood fiction.
So says Shaxank, your daily movie masala expert…;-)
Ciao for now!