I am not a cynic. I am not even a wannabe hipster or
non-conformist. I am a brand conscious, loyalist movie buff, one of the many of
my kind in India.
I grew up watching bollywood movies, regular Hollywood movies, dubbed Hollywood
movies, subtitled Hollywood movies, Indian Sitcoms, English Sitcoms, and such.
While growing up, I never had any issues with the kind of entertainment dished
out by Indian movie makers; but then something happened. I grew up, and bollywood
refused to.
Before writing off this argument, have a look at this:
Now if you really feel that all the movies listed above were
good cinema, not just crap bombarded into so many screens that you end up
watching it for the lack of options, well, I don’t think you should read ahead.
I am not talking about movies that made money. I am not talking about movies
that had a big banner associated to it. I am talking about a movie that made
sense. I see very few of those.
Now mind you, I am not asking for a Tarantino or a Scorsese
or a Spielberg here. No, that wouldn't be fair to demand because there probably
won’t be enough number of people to appreciate that cinema. However, I refuse
to believe that an Indian version of a Zack Snyder or a Michael Bay would be
hard to find. Indian cinema lives on overstatements and extravaganza; and a
little logic to it wouldn't hurt anyone.
I mean rather than watching a car fly off 30 feet in the sky
just because of a knife stuck in its wheel, I’d rather like to see it transform
into an Autobot and then fly 30 feet.
And what in the world do I compare to movies where 50 year
old actors are romancing 20-somethings and pretending to be all young and
awesome! Yes, I am talking about Jab Tak Hai Jaan. I mean, why oh why SRK would
you subject your ‘were-once-fans’ to this humongous tortures?
So yes, if this is the trend, and these are the kind of
movies which movie-goers really have started to appreciate, I really wouldn't blame
the people who make these brainless excuses of crap. I mean, if crap sells,
crap will be manufactured. However, what I can do on my end is stop this
mad-hunt; stop spending my hard earned money and time on bollywood movies. Sure
I will miss out that rare ‘Ship of Theseus’ or ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, but at least
I won’t be subjected to another 3 hour snooze fest called ‘Chennai Express’, no
sir.
P.S. – Even as I type this, I know it is too much to ask
for, but if you are reading this, just think of the last good Indian movie that
you saw and tell me about it via email or comment. Tell me what it made you
think and why you thought it was a good idea to see that movie. It might just give
me some different perspective.
