Filmfare awards (The biggest awards in Hindi Film Industry, because of its legacy) did away with few traditional categories of awards this year. ‘Best Actor in a Comic Role’ was one such category. Surprised? I was! Because last year saw release of some big comic capers (Welcome), romantic comedies (Jab We Met) and no brainers (Dhol, Dhamaal) and most of them were fairly successful too.
So what happened? I am trying to unravel the reasons which seem most plausible to me right now. I believe there has been a change in way movies are written these days. In movies of yore, there was always a comic track running parallel to the main plot of the story. This was done because main plot was generally hackneyed and actors were so wooden that they felt comfortable emoting pain and hurt only or doing action sequences using body doubles. (Of course this is not true for miniscule good movies which released in 80’s and 90’s). Also main story line was generally boring, so film makers used to add some entertainment by injecting these comic tracks. The actors in these comic tracks were generally considered non hero material, though some of them have actually become legends. Who can forget Mehmood, whose on screen antics were much more watchable than the movie itself? People would flock to watch his movies and not really the hero. I have read somewhere that he was paid more than heroes too. I think the last famous comedian to be part of such comic tracks was Johnny Lever. His acts in movies like Baazigar are still remembered fondly.
But with better and original stories being written, this genre of comic tracks died its natural death. Also emerged good looking comic actors like Akshay Kumar and even Govinda was liked by masses. And full fledged genre of comedies also became commercially viable. So every hero wanted his share of pie. I sometimes feel that Amol Palekar and Farooque Shaikh were born in a wrong era. If they were to do the roles they did in their times, today, they would have been billionaires. Now these add on comic tracks have become an oddity and audiences generally don’t warm up to them. Few years back Filmfare started giving best actor in comic role awards to heroes of the movies. Govinda won one of those. Instead of accepting it as a sign of appreciation, they thought it was some kind of slur on their career or may be they were scared of being typecast. But I don’t see any comedy’s hero getting a best actor award in near future, which is easily possible in Academy Awards. This is because, we Indians consider emotional and weepy; loud and over the top performances as real acting. We think comedy is for wannabes! Sanjay Leela Bhansali would never make one! But I consider David Dhawan as great a film maker as SLB. What if his movies don’t go to Cannes? They made us laugh….
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It happens rarely that one goes to a movie and gets surprised. Not necessarily because the movie is extremely good. It can also happen when a movie is better than ones expectations or when a movie tries to make a paradigm shift. Iron Man is one such movie which made me sit up and take notice of it.
Being a Hollywood movie, special effects were definitely of the highest levels. But the good thing in Iron Man was that these effects didn’t look as if something is happening out of the ordinary. They were believable and as audience one can mistake to think that if one gets that exoskeleton suit to wear, one can do all those things by oneself. Also unlike other superhero movies this one is really topical and deals with a serious issue of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, making it an interesting watch. While other superhero movies make caricatures out of their villains, Iron Man’s evil elements are entrenched in the grim realities of the present world. So when we watch a Superman or a Spiderman, we watch it as an outsider as if the events are unfolding in some world which doesn’t exist. But Iron Man is different; it reminds us of the dangerous world we live in.
Three other elements of this superhero flick, which makes it markedly different from other movies of similar ilk, have impressed me big time. And I am already awaiting its sequel.
No Split Personality – Right from Superman to Spiderman to even our desi Krissh, the superheroes depict extremely different personalities with and without costumes. Take Spiderman for example. Without his costume Peter Parker is a simple guy, who behaves like loser at times and when he dons his Spiderman costume, the change in his persona is highly dramatic. In Iron Man, nothing of that sort exists. Tony Stark is as powerful and ingenious as Iron Man himself. He can survive and win without the costume. His costume is the extension of his personality and not the other way around. That element makes Iron Man more endearing than any other superhero.
No Need to Hide – While other superheroes make an effort to hide their real identities, Iron Man is cool with revealing his real self. He is indulgent and seeks pleasure in his accomplishments.
No Freak Show – While Spiderman gets his powers from a freak bite and Krissh gets his magic from equally freak ‘Jaadoo’; Iron Man uses his technological know-how and resources to give himself that edge. He makes us believe that Superheroes are humans after all.
I cherished Iron Man and I am sure he is here to stay.
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Few months back, I went to Maratha Mandir with Sumit, to watch DDLJ’s (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge) morning show. Yes! It is such an old movie, running for more than 12 years now at this theatre. But it is such a good movie too. Brought back old memories and is perfect dose for nostalgia. But even more memorable was the fact that I watched a movie in a single screen theatre after a long gap, 3-4 years I guess.
It is almost like going back in time to all those old world charms. Multiplexes definitely have added to our movie going experience. But they are same everywhere, bringing in a monotony. A single screen brings back certain sights and sounds which remind me of my childhood days. This post is dedicated to those very sounds and sights.
I was in 8th standard when DDLJ first released. I still remember standing in that long queue in front of the ticket window. That was the scene every time a big movie released. One had to go to the hall at least an hour before the starting time of the movie. Sometimes for an evening show, we used to queue up, right in the morning. Getting a ticket was an adventure in itself. It was so much fun with friends taking turns in the queue and loitering around aimlessly. With advent of multiplexes came advance booking, tele booking, internet booking and out went the queues. Yes it is more comfortable now. But then the bonding we used to share with friends in those queues is out of our movie experience now. I miss that big time!
When Trimurti released, I was so excited that I bunked school to watch its first day first show. But I was not in luck, the ticket window was closed. I was sad, but then I heard – “pachhis ka pachhas mein, pachhis ka pachhas mein” – someone selling a 25 rupees ticket in 50 bucks. It definitely was a big call. I had to miss going to games parlor for few days. I bought that ticket in black. And the movie was such a disaster. Though I liked the song – Duniya Ri Duniya Very Good Very Good, Duniya Waale Very Bad Very Bad – very much. Seemingly it was written keeping youngsters in mind. Later on in life there were many occasions when I bought a ticket in black and most of the time it was worth it. But now we don’t see such unscrupulous elements when we go for a movie. Yes, we are not doing anything illegal. But the ticket rates these days are anyways at their fleecing best. At least tickets were blacked only for movies which were really good and sought after. But ticket rates at multiplexes are same for every kind of movie, whether it is a half decent flick ‘Bhoothnath’ or an unwatchable disaster ‘Jimmy’. Wish they soon start using differential rates!
During screening of Hum Apke Hain Kaun, people danced in the stall rows when Didi Tera Dewar was playing. I wasn’t surprised when people threw coins on screen when Karishma Kapoor kissed Aamir Khan in Raja Hindustani. Can someone even think in his or her wildest dreams to witness such things in a multiplex or being a part of this kind of revelry? The answer is a big NO! Whenever a movie turned out to be a bore or the pace of the movie used to slacken, the quick-witted remarks from the last rows in the balcony used to lift the entire audience’s mood. But in multiplexes people come to watch movies as if it has been forced on them. They laugh and sigh in tandem as if on someone’s cue. All such things make multiplexes a tad bore and routine. Such ambience of single screens would be difficult to recreate and it would become part of our folklore.
The sound of the bottle opener rattling on the glass bottles of cold-drinks; the hoots that erupted during the entry of the hero of the movie; the wolf whistles when the heroine made a suggestive pelvic thrust; the occasional swear words when the villain did something abhorrent; the ruckus which was created when power failed while the movie played; all this and much more will fade in our memories. I would fondly remember the days when Single Screens was FUN!!!
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Tashan was in CINEMAnia’s list of most awaited movies of 2008. But the Pharmula failed big time this time around for Yash Raj Films. It had everything going for it. It had one of the biggest star cast. Not only biggest, it had the perfect star cast for such a Masala Flick. Anil Kapoor is an actor par excellence. Akshay is the new king of entertainment. Kareena & Saif formed the ‘it’ couple which had the potential to burn the screen. It also had YRF backing it with loads of money and thus aggressive publicity machinery. So the million-dollar question is, “Why Tashan bombed?”
There are many reasons for it – commercial & non-commercial; creative & non-creative and tangible & intangible. I think one of the major reasons for this disaster is that movie failed to live up to the hype that was created around it. But that happens to most of the movies these days. Still they rake in moolah. So I believe there are even more basic flaws in it.
1. The OSO effect – Om Shanti Om was a movie, which belonged to Masala genre and was spoofing old Hindi movies. Tashan according to me belongs to the same genre. But unlike OSO, Tashan pretended to be a serious movie. It tried to justify the bitchiness of Kareena’s character by inserting a vengeance angle in the story. That was like saying – “Boss we have made an illogical, no brainer where hundred men together can’t kill Akshay Kumar, but we can’t show a bikini clad, zero size, conniving Kareena conning people without a noble motive.” Huh! The movie would have been so much more fun, had it not taken itself seriously in the second half. OSO was more fun, non pretentious and of course its songs were much better than that of Tashan.
2. The YRF Arrogance – Yash Raj Films think that they can make whatever crap and sell it in a nice package and the movie would just bring home the money. They were actually right in thinking so. Movies like Laaga Chunari Mein Daag & Ta Ra Rum Pum flopped but still they made profits for the producers. But consumers are smart. They can’t be fooled for long. YRF is so arrogant that they didn’t think it was necessary to have at least a semblance of story in the film. They didn’t think it was necessary to iron out all exhibition & distribution issues with multiplexes before the release of the movie. I believe they must have forgotten.
3. Saif – Kareena Sizzle? Naah! – Wish they had sizzled on screen; after so much was made out of their much exalted relationship. But it’s not their fault. The story didn’t give them a scope to romance. Oh! Did I say STORY? Well there was no story, so atleast the director, The Vijay Krishna Acharya (VKA) could have shown them cozying up. Even a dream sequence would have done wonders. Hehe!
4. The Indulgence of the Director of The Tashan – Or should I call it over indulgence? The abundant usage of ‘THE’ in the movie is just a symptom. The VKA was so much enamored by his own work that seemingly he forgot to say CUT in all those long drawn, boring, repetitive and ridiculous action sequences. I still wonder, where did Saif manage that Jet Ski from or where did the bullet wound vanish from Akshay’s arm within a scene. I hope VKA knows the concept of continuity. He mounted lavish sets for song & dance routines and he forgot to focus on the sound quality. Anil Kapoor’s dialogues were barely audible or comprehensible.
You people can add more reasons for The Tashan failing. If it wasn’t for Akshay Kumar I couldn’t have watched the movie till The End.
It is not the case that The PHARMULA doesn’t work anymore. It is just that the FORMULA should be right.
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