K K K Kiran Se Kaminey Tak
To do nothing is pleasureable..To think while doing nothing is indulgent..To think at random while doing nothing is bliss..In this phase of my life when I m doing nothing some random thoughts on our cinema..How far these thoughts are ‘cinematic’, I don’t know!..You decide..
It seems Aaj Kal love may not be enough..To be different in Hindi Cinema the challenge is to come up with challenging scripts—where the protagonist is either physically or mentally challenged..Hrithik Roshan in Koi Mil Gaya started this trend at the turn of this decade..A pint size talent Darsheel reaffirmed it through Taare Zameen Par..Prior to this back in nineties Shahrukh got recognition with Baazigar but he truly arrived with that staccato stammer under stress in Darr..Now it is Shahid Kapoor doing a double bill with stammer and what may be termed as ‘f’tammer in Kaminey..And the buzz is about Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish where Hrithik Roshan is supposed to be wheelchair bound..( Danny Denzogappa had done one such role in B R Chopra’s whodunit Dhund)..
I think representation- away- from- the- normal provides a kind of short-cut to awards..I wonder who amongst our heores can truly pick up the challenge without worrying about the awards to essay the roles like Dustin Hoffman in Rainman or Tom Hanks in Forrest Gumps..( Yes I mean the real portrayal of some infirmity..Do we have in our stars to give a life-like performance on such subjects……Though way back in early eighties Naseerruddin Shah had done a wonderful job in Sai Pranjpe’s Sparsh..I liked it better than Al Pacino’s take in Scent of a Woman..Even Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri had given a realistic performance as mute and deaf couple in Gulzar’s Koshish..Sanjeev Kumar was one such actor who could have done justice to enacting any such role..His Khilona and Naya Din Nayi Raat provided glimpses of his immense talent.. Amongst Heroines Sridevi did make us sit up with her performance of an amnesiac in Sadma …Portrayal of a blind woman has been done many a times with varied degrees of finesse..More recently Rani Mukherjee did a reasonably ok job as a blind, deaf, mute girl in Black..Then her cousin Kajol did her own take on being a blind girl in Fanaa..To me both the portrayals left much to be desired..Somehow Kajol’s act seemed put on..
And everything pales in shadow with the entry of new comer–a producer-actor Naser Khan..In his movie Shadow he is tomtommed as a blind in real life who can see in reel life..I have not seen the movie..So I can’t comment on it, and definitely not on the basis of the reviews..
Anyway an offshoot of this challenging syndrome is that the more our hero is anti-hero the better his prospects of bagging an award..And our star heroes love to lap up any such opportunity..It gives them a platform to showcase their range and spread it thin..From Khalnayak to Kaminey it is the same story..Sanjay Dutt resurrected his career with Khalnayak..Shahrukh Khan made a career out of it– Baazigar, Anjaam, Darr..Manoj Bajpai announced his arrival through one such role in Satya..Saif Ali Khan made himself noticed by his anti-hero portrayals in Ek Haseena Thi and Omkara..Even the hero of Omkara Ajay Devgan tried to showcase his acting prowess of an obsessed lover with split-personality in Dewangee..It was so off key..I don’t want to comment on it any further..
Another thought–Apart from the challenge-chakkar it is the conspiracy that seems to be the favorite flogging horse of Hindi Cinema of late..
It is being said that corporates are the conspirators in starting a no-win war amongst stars to get their movies ticking..They have pampered them so much by loading their pockets that the stars have become insecure..They don’t want to loose what they did not deserve in the first place anyway..So they are doing anything to promote their films..And if the film does not click they become paranoid..
Last year in August exactly on 08.08.08 Akshay Kumar was Singing he is King…. This year Kambhakt Ishq proving truly kambhakt, Akshay Kumar went to the media saying there is a lobby conspiring against him to pan his movies ..These peopole are jealous..And at the right time he will expose the so-called conspirators!..What a fall or is their writing on the wall.?
Kaminey’s director smelled something fishy when it got an A certification..Its producers cried partiality because Gajini with more graphic violence was given a better treatment and universally certified..Then the rumour floated that Kaminey producers are blaming the so-called Aaj Kal kay yuppie producers for pulling their power strings to get the multiplexes closed for three days on the pretext of swine flu..They claimed that seventy percent of revenue from the first weekend were denied to them in Mumbai and Pune..it seems Ishq is not only Kambakht but has turned Kamina also..More than Ishq all that is happening Aaj Kal in the world of Hindi Cinema is Kamina..
But I wonder were all these allegations worth their packet in publicity for an ok-dokay movie like Kaminey..To counter the criticism by Kaminey Camp, the rival campwallahs claim that all big time papers giving four star rating to Kaminey is part of a conspiracy where media has been bribed to fool the audience and get them to theatres with star ratings..But has the audience really been fooled..I for one am not..
Some more thoughts… on Kaminey—I don’t vouch for whether it is a fact or fiction that it is a back-handed tribute to Pulp Fiction or all its off-shoots and me-toos..But I am convinced Vishal Bhardwaj has lots of respect for R D Burman..Apart from using Duniya Mein Logon Ko Dhoka Kabhi Ho Jata Hai as a background score to highlight the mistaken identity theme of the movie, the main track Dhan Ta Na seems to have similar opening riffs as R D Burman’s Piya Tu Ab To Aaja..And I wonder why so much media hype was created where Shahid Kapoor was claiming to be the real guy behind the success of the song and making it a music set-piece worth the Discos..On the other hand Vishal Bhardwaj kept saying that this composition was recorded by him ten years ago for his tele serial..Whatever the take the fact remains, the song is a big let down while watching it on big screen.. Though promos on TV give a different picture the song is mediocre in picturisation..Promos cut around it proved like liquor that increases the passion but takes away the performance..
The conspiracy theorists have gone to an extent that Newark episode in SRKs life was a part of a very well thought out publicity plan.. Their overactive mind says that a smart public relations outfit hired by SRK was able to worm its way into airport’s security establishment to write a script that is going to gradually unspool over nine months or so when the movie is scheduled to be released….Kahan Kahan se chale aate hain these Khanspirators!
The small budget movie market in the city seems to be in Sankat—Love Kay liye Kucch bhi karega..Even make its Khichddi also..Similarly to get returns on the Box Office all kinds of subjects worthy of movie-for-television slot are being produced..They may be recovering the investment for producers but distributors and multiplex exhibitors smell a conspiracy to deprive them of their fair-share at the BO!..And I wonder how fair it is to make movies with the intention of just showing on the balance sheets the assets— that are non-performing!..And I wonder how far the city’s underbelly can take the strain before it bellies up to keep providing the plots that have all started seeming the same!
As for me .. I now feel—and can’t think anymore..Yes I have started feeling because in these drought-stricken times and recession-recovery- rants, there is not enough food for my thoughts..And perhaps no serious thought has gone in producing all those movies- for- multiplexes that don’t make me feel a thing or move me any which way..So I smell a rat! I sense a Conspiracy..My sensibilities are outraged..Kaminey .Kuttey Main inka khoon….. ..Let it be..What you say?..Your thoughts on it.. If you don’t have any then let Dharam Paaji decide.
Tags: A Scent Of A Woman, ajay devgan, Anjane, baazigar, darr, Deewangee, Dhund, Ek Haseena Thi, Forrest Gump, Hrithik, Kajol, Kaminey, khalnayak, Khilona, Koi Mil Gaya, Koshish, Nasseruddin Shah, Omkara, Rainman, Rani Mukherjee, Sanjeev Kumar, Sparsh, Sridevi, SRK, Tare Zameen Par
Anurag Kashyap
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Shivajee
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Yeah Dude….Whatever that was ….
Krysh,
your random thoughts seems to be a five course luncheon for all the similar ‘random-thinkers’. Nice post man. As you have cited some of the best performances as a physically challenged man in your opening paragraph, I will request you to watch “The Diving Bell and The Butterfly” if you have not watched it already.
And the ‘conspiracy’ theory is well analyzed. But long before this blog-tweeter-media ’scoop’ formula of marketing, if memory seves right, Mahesh Bhatt used conspiracy/controversy as his weapon of mass marketing for the movie ‘Criminal’. Do you remember that ‘news’ in print telling us that Nagarjuna had been put behind the bars for killing his wife ?
how about Sohail Khan and Ashmit Patel bashing Sikandar Kher up while Fight Club was about to be released…