Can Ghai reinvent himself?
Subhash Ghai, the man who gave Indian Film Industry a sense of pride in its opulence and grandeur, is a school of cinema by himself. He has defined and redefined the genre of song-and-dance with a governing authority time and again. His cinema celebrates Indian culture in a much questioned stereotypical manner, but no one can doubt his command over the medium of narration interspersed with beautiful and visually imaginative music. In fact, some of his movies look like they were made to project the music in a series of interconnected lavishly shot music videos.
For me, his films though largely lacking on detailing and depth, have been an entertaining experience, the stand-out factors being the celebration of stardom (Saudagar, Karma), an unapologetic obsession with grandeur (Saudagar, Hero, Vidhaata), excellent music equally well filmed (Taal, Pardes), memorable characters (Ram Lakhan, Saudagar, Vidhaata, Kalicharan, Taal, Khalnayak) and a respect for the quintessential character roles in Indian films like the villain, the comedian etc.
I, however, wonder when did the magic get over. What happened that transformed him from a master craftsman, churning one hit after the other, to a shrewd businessman, investing in only profit-making (or “safe”) ventures. In his most-disastrous work till date, Kisna, he literally headed all departments of film making including direction. production and story. His much trusted and loyal team- Sachin Bhaumick, Waman Bhosle, Ashok Mehta, even Jackie Shroff seems to have all left him in his creative disillusion now.
Is it the death of a creative genius, the disillusion of a largely successful film-maker or simply the victim of the changing times in Indian films?
It is a pity to see the man who made magnum-opus cinema all his life coming down to making self-obsessed products like Yaadein and Kisna. I would be tempted to generalize and call it a case of Frankenstein’s monster, but there is something that stops me from doing so.
Which brings me to my question; do you think Subhash Ghai can reinvent himself?
Tags: Direction, Teaching Film-making
Anurag Kashyap
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- Tushar, this is a great topic. Thanks for this. I think Subhash Ghai the filmmaker evaporated after Ram Lakhan/Saudagar and Subhash Ghai the moneymaker took over. Of course this doesn’t mean, Ghai wasn’t a keen business man earlier. It’s just that he lost the balance. – The businessman did exist – for after shooting for about a month with Amitabh in and around 1987/88 he decided this was not a commercially viable project (his official statement besides his unofficial ones that mentioned that in Ghai’s experience Amitabh was the most unprofessional actor he had ever worked with). That Amitabh’s getup in his incomplete project was then used in Khuda Gawah.
Of course he didn’t make any intelligent movies (in spite of No17 in Kalicharan or the tongue in cheek dialogues in Vishwanath) – but all his movies were great popcorn entertainers. Perhaps the only Bgrade movies in the 70s and 80s (ofcourse he skipped the B label with Karz) that were enjoyable.
You have to know that until Yaadein happened Ghai had given only two flops in his entire directorial career – Gautam Govinda (Shashi Kapoor & Shatrughan Sinha) and Krodhi (Dharmendra)… !!!!!!!! and that is some achievement He started in 1976 – his first movie and till the year 2001 (Yaadein) – Ghai gave only two flops!!!!!!!
That doesn’t mean I have liked his each and every product, but again, he “HAD” been a good entertainer. No, I don’t think there’s anything called “reinvent” in this particular category of cinema (story telling) and age (60+)
If he still is in the Taal-Yaadein-Kisna frame of mind, then God save him. Wouldnt it be better if he simply turns a fulltime producer? Hows that for re-invention?!
great topic. oz, you nailed it. he went from filmmaker to moneymaker, and in the process, got this disease called PSS (popular star syndrome). it worked with ash in taal, so he tried to recreate it with hrithik in yaadein.. fresh off KNPH, he figured hrithik could bring in the money easily.. this wasn’t to be, obviously, so he tries the same with vivek in kisna. post-company and saathiya, he was the new hot commodity.. so it seems as if he said “screw story, i got the star”.. and again, learned the hard way. glad he finally got some sense knocked into him, and turned production-savvy with iqbal. but then he comes back with that akshaye, ayesha, mallika movie.. (i even went to the premiere of this and forget the name.. believe me, it was that bad)
whistling woods may be a noble attempt, but it honestly just feels like a money-making attempt.. i’ll start believing in it the day i start seeing a whole bunch of newcomers coming out of it and making it big :-?
great input guys!
I am somehow looking for more time to reply to all the argumenst going on here, but could not resist the temptation to jump in the real-time.
Oz, I didn’t know those details before. But I still disagree how we can so easily write his genius off. I still would love to believe in his storytelling.
Given all his commercial and schizophrenic reasons, I think there still exists in him the BIG-film maker.
Pranshu, Taal was not that bad!
Striker, the film was called Shaadi Ke Pehle or shaadi ka laddoo or shaadi somethin…
He was always a businessman – never a filmmaker. He has never done completely something different in his films. All the films had same tried out filmi formulae. It was either love story or rich against poor or both. Or he was inspired from old movies like Sholay(Karma), Deewar(Ram Lakhan).
I would say he more got lost in NRI markets like many filmmakers. There are more businessman than filmmakers in our industry.
The day ghai decides to shed his ’showman tag’ and his megalomaniacal approach to film making … he will automitcally be in a position to re invent himself ….
Watch any of his film interviews … or watch 36 China town even … u’ll see him promoting whistling woods … as if its the best film school available in india … and how much does this esteemed film school charges students ??? Lakhs !!!
Why can’t people focus on their work and not bother about the ‘fame’ ‘name’ ??? Why do people (including some of the leading star ‘actors’) talk like some red carpet is being rolled on somehwre for them ????
Raj kapoor and guru dutt constantly re-invented themselves … Adoor gopalakrishnan, mohanlal, manirathnam, Shyam benegal have never needed to shout from rooftops of their films/achievements ???? Why should ghai do it ??? Who is ghai to open a film school after making a film like the beaten to death love triangle Taal, soporific Yaadein, grandiose Kisna ???? Is that all that he has got left in him ??? Love stories ????
Yes he does produce an occasional Iqbal … but what about 36 china town, badhai ho badhai and shaadi sey pehle ????? Is that what he will call ‘great cinema’ ??? Is that what students of WHISTLING WOODS INTERNATIONAL study ???? Yes i can understand film makers who blend artistic sensibilities with cinematic entertainment … but subhash ghai’s cinema has become 0 in terms of artistic value … 10/10 in terms of melodramatic exxagerated stereotypes
- Guys, I do pray and hope that Subhash Ghai is reading this completely unbiased opinion from movie mavericks. In case anyone knows his email id, please forward this link to him. :-b
yup.. already forwarding this to my friend whose dad works at mukta arts :d
thanks striker ….
although i’m not sure whether it will affect him … (continuing in the festive season) agar bahut zyaada meetha khaa liya ho … aur phir kadwa sach chakhoy , toh ussey zaayekey main zyaada farakh nahin padta …
(English – if ur mouth is accustomed to eating lots of sachcharine coated sweets… then bitter truth won’t be able to spoil ur taste !!)
arey waah! kya diaalaague maara hai! true SG style!
“He was always a businessman – never a filmmaker.”
I agree, another reasons his movies clicked in those day’s were due to the lavish star cast and songs. The plot’s weren’t always so great!
But don’t you think we loved those films for whatever they were? I personally never mind any film if it entertains me…I hardly think of the flaws if I dont get the time for it…
May be its me who still loves all the no-brainers but I cant get those lavishly done films outta my mind, story or no story.How many current pot-boilers can claim of a story anyways?
Give me a Karma, Saudagar, Ram Lakhan or Khalnayak anyday and I will prefer it to a Fanaa or a Dor or a ‘multiplex’ film..
if you watch any of Ghai’s movies today ( Khalnayak, vidhata,saudagar, ram lakhan, karz etc), you will realize that they dont stand the test of time. All these movies which we probably liked when they were released, have failed the test of time, big time. I think Ghai always made movies that would be quick winners and then probably he lost in touch when Indian viewers realzed cinematic quality with advent of cable and more and more hollywood movies available at their disposal.
… And watch any of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s movies. They look as entertaining now as they wee before. Even some of stuff from Yash Chopra wont fly now. lamhe, chandni, darr etc all will show how shody production values they had and we loved them because we probably were unaware of quality.
btw, I read that Ghai is directing a quickie called “black and white” (before he begins his Salman musical) starring Anil kapoor. Anil is an awesome talent who unfortunately is loosing out in last few years. For his sake, I hope this movie works
I don’t agree. In fact, his films always used the best available technicians, and you talk of shoddy prodn values.
He made his own ground, and it was only later when his school became a new genre in itself, that he started getting criticism for repeating a successful formula. Agreed, he became reluctant to experiment, but that still does not take away the good points of his cinema.
Now that we have access all the ‘best’ of resources, I do not see a genuine ’superhit’ of the league of those ’shoddy’ productions.
It would not be wise to compare the timelessness of Ghai with Hrishida or Yash Chopra, all are different schools alltogether.
I seriously doubt what you call ‘quality’, if on your benchmarks, Lamhe was a poor quality film, then I seriously would like to know what defines a good quality film.
Probably I should have expressed myself more clearly. I enjoyed all movies including khalnayak,lamhe,saudagar etc when they were released. What I am saying is none of these and many more films made by these makers are enjoyable anymore.
I had cherished memories of lamhe until I saw it last week. It was clear that dialogues, editing, sets and pace of movie left a lot to be desired. Same with khalnayak. I was aghast to notice almost half of movie shot on sets and easily noticeable. Same story with Darr and Saudagar. These movies are not interesting anymore. Infact they represent bad cinema.
I would also suggest you tushar to watch these movies again in a week or two and then we can discuss in detail.
aah…i get your point, dude. sorry for being acidic in my prev mssg. i will sure try n watch them films. ciao.
hey check this out ….
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1828180,001100030009.htm