Close Encounters with Close-Ups
Recently I have revelled in the close encounters with the forgotten art of close-ups in couple of movies.
Before I talk of these movies up close let me just share some masala and trivia with you on these close-ups..
The old cameramen who have gone to seed or become inactive don’t leave an opportunity to narrate how they used to relish lighting up for a close-up especially the heroine’s..And how they used to take hours together to light it up..And few of them brag that heroines literally used to lagao maska to them to light up their faces in close-ups..Have you ever heard of close-up couch..Well few of the cameramen boasted of laying the heroines for giving them a close-up that lighted up the marquee..It was like fulfilling their wish to be a diva or a Cleopetra whose face is supposed to have launched thousand ships!
The modern technology is so advanced that not long ago I had read an article where it was touted that in years to come there will come a time where stardom will just confine to star’s face..Yes even today films run on face-value of the leading stars..But technology will require only few shots with varied emotions from the star and he need not come for the shoot of action or thrill sequences..The technology will do the rest..It will cut, paste and morph the face in 3D environment on his physique or her figure and finish the so called shooting of the scene..I think only then a face will be supposed to fetch million dollars literally..Today it seems somewhat a misnomer..
What with hand-held cameras, steadicams and jimmy jibs taking over the action in the films, at times even the emotional content, to see movies sprinkled liberally with the dose of close-ups that are focused and fitting, especially when it were chosen as a deliberate vehicle to convey the content and emotions is a truly satisfying experience.
So coming to the movies : In Sarkar Raj the use of massive close-ups comes as a shock initially..Also it seems tedious for a while but then in over-all scheme of the narrative the use of close-ups (especially in scenes between Amitabh and Abishek Bachchan and then between Amitabh and Dilip Prabhavlkar who plays Rao Saab) is truly justified..And it does not take away from the story and does not seem as a mere style statement..Rather it enhances the over-all impact..Read what Pedro Almodovar has to say on use of close-ups:
“…. To shoot close up in wide screen, you have to be much closer to the face and you get so close at times that it can be dangerous because there is no possibility of lying..This forces you to ask yourself what you are really saying in a close up..you need very good actors and they need something real to perform, otherwise everything will fall apart…”
Well in Sarkar Raj, Amitabh Bachchan has not hammed and has given a performance that even excels beyond the parameters of a given screenplay..Other actors could not take such masterly liberties but still they were restrained enough to justify their performances in close-ups.
Then there is Aamir(well there has been too much analysis of the movie on PFC with very valid arguments from both sides..imo, Aamir is undoubtedly a break from the run-of-the-mill stuff but has its limitations and also gives one a feeling of déjà vu or been- there- seen- that.. In its execution it reminds of Satya, Black Friday & No Smoking (note especially those chase sequences through the labrynthine lanes in the slums and atmosphere of those claustrophobic ribbon like paths through the city’s underbelly)..The feeling of déjà vu is quite probable as second unit director is credited to apna Anurag Kashyap) Well coming to the point, where Aamir scores for me is towards the climax..Its use of close-up of the protagonist in slo-mo in the climax, to bring out the layers of conflicting emotions that lays threadbare his dilemma and leads to eventual resolution of a personal crisis is simply brilliant..Rajeev Khandelwal as a debutante delivers here to the tee and a right use of a right tool at a right moment!
Apart from these two recent movies and last years Taare Zameen Par, to an extent, there hardly have been movies that applied close-ups in proper cinematic context..
And this shot ( the close-up), that had been used abundantly and to perfection by Russian filmmakers and that is truly the most democratic shot that cuts across the class distinctions to convey its impact to the front-benchers and balcony-wallahs in equal measure is losing to hand-held cameras, steadicams and jimmy-jibs that are everywhere and anywhere filming the biceps, pelvic thrusts,macho walks and body talks without knowing their own whereabouts..In a sense its total chaos..But at the box-office if a movie clicks then anything becomes the flavor and a mantra..Giving due consideration to such idiosyncracies and neck-wrecking aerobics of the camera, I am a romantic and root for the close-up ( shot fixed or with the steady tracking) that is missing from even our staple of songs that are more of gyrations than genuineness….Hardly one or two close-ups in the whole song and that too for fraction of a second.. Rest is all about a base than a face!
Imagine a whole song or a sequence being shot without capturing the enigma and charm of a heroine in a close-up! Imagine Vyjantimala to Vivien Leigh, Marilyn Monroe to Madhubala, Sophia Loren to Suchitra Sen, Meryl Streep to Madhuri Dixit, Demi Moore to Deepika Padukone, Sharon Stone to Sushmita Sen, Keira Knightley to Kareena Kapoor, Audrey Hepburn to Aishwarya Rai being fancied without their close-ups..
And for all those who dismiss it as an anachronism and archival adjunct, I would suggest them to recollect this ditty of a toothpaste ad , a couple of years ago..
Kya aap close up karte hain
Ya duniya se darte hain
Aur penalty bhartey hain
Aap close-up kyun nahin kartey hain?
Yes indeed, why don’t you shoot close-up more often, sirji?
I
Tags: aamir, Sarkar Raj, Taare Zameen Par
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
krysh,
close up celluloid narratives were primarily more of a western idiom then indian. the influences have crept in since a while now.
Good one…
good article…