Why is it that if the audience decides our opinions?
Do we really think that people will make opinions about us based on the opinions we give about the movies?
I recently watched Rockstar in a multiplex .... The reaction of audience wasn't good. Many people posted their facebook status as "Tera haq, tu hi rakh, teri movie WTF" and it got many likes, many laughs, few courageous souls defended and got laughed at too ... And then the people who dared to like the movie, posted reviews like "Amazing camerawork .... great songs .... Mohit chauhan and Rahman , what a combo...."
Why is it so difficult for us to really take a stand against the crowd? Which director in the history of bollywood has given the summary of the movie in the 1st 5 mins .... laid the right expectations and successfully portrayed it in the best possible manner....
We make statements "Hollywood is so much better, bollywood can never reach that level"
Here's a director that tries to match that level with a movie of Walk the line genre and as audience, we pull him down. The least we could do is appreciate the efforts and encourage such movies.
As audience, we blame SRK .... he is so stereotyped ..... Ham actor ....
But what did we do after watching Swades, Dil se, Chak de India ..... Few popular critics killed these movie with a not so good review and we were scared to voice an opinion ..... If we didn't take a stand then, we don't really have the right to criticize SRK for his bad selection of roles.
Anupam Kher, I believe is a legend. I often compare him with Robin Williams. Nobody can argue about their versatility. But as audience, we appreciated them in their comic roles; we expect them to be funny in any role. Have we forgotten Saraansh, Daddy, or Dr. Dang in Karma? I was so glad to see him back in a serious role in Wednesday. But am still waiting to see him back in more such roles.
I at times think about these people (actors, directors) ....
A three times national award winner Mithun does mass movies, specialist character actors like Prakash Raj and Nassar are shown as comic actors in bollywood, Paresh rawal gets immediate recognition in comic roles but we ignore his presence in movies like Paa.
As multiplex audience, we have, in small way discouraged these people from giving us good movies.
Then i think about Anurag Kashyap, Kamal Haasan, RGV , Aamir..... These are the people who are not bothered by commercial success. They have, and will continue to give good movies for selective audience ... Thats what makes me respect such people.
Let us all as movie lovers take a stand, be it against the crowd, if we really like a movie.
Bollywood will grow, if we grow up.
Hi Rushabh,
ReplyDeleteI feel more than people being honest about their opinion, the following 2 things are impeding "good" films from being made. ("good" in quotes because its subjective)
1. More people actually like SRK in films like Veer Zara, Kuch Kuch hota hain than in Swades or Chak de India. This may be because they really enjoy those films more OR the so called "good" films are not being promoted well so they do not reach enough people which brings me to point 2
2. We do not have enough brave producers who will bet on new writers/directors and invest more money/time in scripts. Few that come to mind are Vishal Bhardwaj & Aamir Khan. If we had more of these who care about script, invest in it and then back the film through distribution, cinema will naturally improve inturn creating better roles for these actors.
But I feel you are absolutely right about the audience supporting such cinema. This can be done by making sure you watch these films in theaters, buying dvds and in general promoting them amongst friends. This may not seem like much but it would go a long way in helping make more of such films.
Great article, looking forward to more from you :)
Hi Rushabh,
ReplyDeleteThat was a great post.
Often, as a person who likes movies that most don't or so I feel, I do voice my opinion saying, "I liked it". Soon enough one of my friends will chant, "She is a forgiving audience."
Mostly, I do not refute that point because if someone did ask me why I liked it, I don't always have a coherent answer to it.
It definitely isn't because my favorite actors/directors/music director/cinematographer were involved. It can be as simple as it touched a chord within me. It may have been a story that I related to.
There may have been a character that I identified with. Or like you said, I just appreciated the effort, thoughts and emotions that people put into making that film. Especially as we see
crappy movies like Ready, Tees Mar Khan (and yes even God cannot convince me that these movies deserved any accolades!) gaining so much money and popularity, it makes it more essential to point out and spread the word about movies that stand out. As a faithful spectator to Bollywood
for years, I have learned that it is necessary to put into words and make the effort to at least put forth to a reluctant audience, why a particular movie interested me, something I have started recently doing.
After years of denial, I admit on this blog that I LOVED SAAWARIYA and I tried convincing Onkar of it...hehe!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSorry to be joining the comments party on this a little late..
ReplyDeleteThere's no debate that good cinema can only flourish if supported by the audience. But I wonder how much of it is arrogance on our part to decide what is good and what isn't. I'm quite sure everyone contributing to this blog (myself included) is quite opinionated and vocal about their reviews so this is more of a hypothesis about the nameless faceless audience out there.
When someone says "buri nahi hai" ya "mixed reviews hain" I think most of the time it is true. A lot of movies being churned out today are quite mediocre. They're not bad. They're just not compelling enough to be good. Also the Indian audience, IMHO, doesn't want to watch a movie to have a life changing experience. Most of them want to go to the movies with friends/family, get 3+ hrs in a dark cool room away from the heat, munch on some popcorn and be entertained. Which is why movies like Band Baja Baarat with relatively unknown cast and crew become quite successful.
Of course publicity does do a lot for the film as well.
To your point about Rockstar, yes that movie was different and it struck a chord with a handful of people but I do no think it was cinematic brilliance. Hence the mixed reviews. A lot of "different" films honestly try too hard to be "different" and either become extremely melodramatic / preachy or completely lose focus. Huge example - "No Killed Jessica". BUT ... I have a personal rant against that movie that I will save for another day :)
At the end of the day, I strongly believe, the audience will like what they like because it held on to their attention for 3 hrs. They cannot be policed into liking something just because its different. Nor can they be embarrassed for long into feigning dislike for something that they really enjoyed. And even if films that really work don't do well in theaters they will over time be elevated to a cult classic status (Andaz Apna Apna, as you rightly pointed out) and be successful in their own right. And they will spawn off a dozen lookalikes as well sadly. But they won't die out.
For filmamkers, being different is a risk and a risk, by definition, implies the possibility of failure. Its par for the course and shouldn't be a free pass to success.
Sorry, this went longer than I expected...
@gubzoid - more power to you! :) I didn't dislike Saawariya either but it definitely did not hold my interest for long..