Modern World and Modern Cinema
iView Author: Abhijeet Kumar Singh (Lucknow, India)
Email:abhi.aks.singh [at] gmail [dot]com
Modern World and Modern Cinema
I Think it’s after a very long time that no films were released on this friday & hence no crowds in the multiplex.My grandfather used to tell me the kind of crowd he had seen in front of the theater’s of Mughl-e-Azam. So much so that some of them had come there from weeks just to watch the film. My father tells me the same stroy for the film “Bobby”. & i tell them how every weeks 2-3 films are released & no one comes to see it. For them it used to be a “FILM” & for us it’s “just another friday”. It means the kind of impact the films used to have on people has been lost. What’s the reason behined this?? W’ll if you ask the analysts they will come up with theire own reasons, may be very technical with terms & keywords which might go above the head of the normal movie going audience.Something on which the big producers & Corporates will spend millions. And if I too go for the analysis in this fashion i too will come up with a research papers with heavy terms which doesn’t convince anyone but yet confuse the producers so that it can be sold to them and they can use these surveys to make the “RIGHT”(a lot of pun added!!) kind of film. But if i analyse it just as an audience, an audience who spends 150 bucks on film then i arrive on a totally layman answers which everyone knows but so far none has accepted.And in my first article in PFC i would like to describe these things, I chose this platform because it’s the only platform where a film fanatic can meet the true film-makers, not the celebraties whom the film actually makes famous. Ok now talking about the reasons in layman’s term.
One reason is India has gone through globalisation. Indian audience are now more aware of the kind of films being made in the world & the status enjoyed by those films. They also know their stars here, who they love so much, can skip an indian film if given an oppertunity there. It’s funny when these stars don’t have respect for there own film industry how do they expect the audience to have that for it”.Thus nowdays, the star craze has gone down. Stars can bring the audience for first few days but they cann’t make the film a hit on theire own stardom. Gone is the era of Dilip Kumar & Amitabh bachchan when people used to truly call them stars & can watch theire films just for the sake to see them. Now people know Khans but they also know stars like leonardo, brad pitt and also the kind of films these celebrities work for. Moreover, the indian audience have started accepting the western cinema now. Gone is the time when their existed a myth that western films only shows sex,nudity & violence.Gone is the time when kids could watch english movie channel only when their parents are not at home.
Another reason which is really irritating that the producers consider the audience as illiterate or fool, that we like only one kind of typical masala film & u keep showing us like this and we will keep liking it. Let me tell you, India is not developed country but it’s audience is way too smarter than American’s ’cause here “a man thinks thrice before spending 150 bucks”. So it’s better the producers start making “intelligent films which has impact on the audience, which be more than a film for them” ’cause in this sub-continent their are very few who will spend Rs 150 just for two hours of entertainment!!
I don’t know but i really find this fact very funny that whenever a producer makes film his only intention is to make the film a box-office hit,to make a good film is always secondry . His prime target is to lure audience of different sections & society.For this he takes the plot of previously successful films mix them up & make a new film. Why not the producer desire to make a film which he will enjoy, a film he will keep in his top 20 list & which he will feel proud of!! If they would go with this intention they would make atleast a film which is deeply liked by of course himself & a section of society who share the same taste. Such a film will also be liked by people with different taste too as they will get to see something new. But this has never been done so far except for few like chak-de, omkara and recently GULAAL!!
And because of all these reasons the ppl have started losing trust on our films. And this is why, in the current battle of producers & exhibitiors, the audience (for whom they are fighting) has not come into the picture,it didn’t take a stand & it didn’t come for anyone’s support. If such a problem would have existed in those era when mughl-e-azam or Bobby were released then people would have come on the streets by now!!
I’m not saying all this to teach professional film-maker how to make films nor to be preacher. I’m just 22 with a dream to make films. All i’m saying is just because indian films has lot of resources & potential which it never used to it’s optimum. & this fact should have been thought from the success of “Slumdog” & previosly “Gandhi”. Which are hollywood films totally made by using Indian resources. If we would have learned from this years ago, then trust me, world cinema would not have been known by “Hollywood”. And If we are still not ready to accept this, then in coming years some more films would be made in WEST using the resources of EAST.
Tags: Amitah Bachchan, BOBBY, Brad Pitt, Chak De! India, Dilip Kumar, Gandhi, Gulaal, Mughal E Azam, Omkara, Slumdog Millionaire
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
Abhijeet- a producer will in most likelihood always want to make money on the movie he/she makes, thats an inherent quality of being a producer.But its the director who must strive to achieve quality in the output ( film). The producer alone cannot be blamed as such for the mediocrity of the movie.Even before the movie’s production starts the director & producer are supposed to be clear on what to expect from the film finally.Even as far as producers go people like UTV have been doing a balancing act of making both big blockbusters as well as small movies catering mainly to the multiplex crowd.Yes the majority of the movies coming out today is definitely mediocre.Lets hope that more and more directors and producers try to change their mindsets for the better.
Times have changed too, in our Dad’s generation, movie theaters were the only means of entertainment. Now there is Cable TV, there is the Net, there are video games, Pool parlors. And its simple funda why wud i want to spend 200 plus in a multiplex for a rubbish movie, when i know i can watch it later on DVD or Cable. So unless movie has something in it to get people to the theaters, none would come. If CC2C, Tashan, Kidnap, Drona are what our movie makers have to offer as entertainment, thanks but no thanks, i dont wanna waste 300 bucks watching such tripe.
@sethumadhavan-thanks for the comment sir, i believe (if we leave few exceptions like UTV) the power governing the making of a film in India is in the hands of the producer(not the script or the writers). & generally it’s been found that they are those who have enough money to make film but not an understanding for the films that’s why they give priority to the brands, celebs & names. And from here things starts rottening. A recent instance which was really very shocking for me that Warner Brother’s which made “Dark knight” could think of making a movie like CC2C. If production house like “WB” can make such mistakes then problem is really very very serious!!
@Ratnakar Sadasyla-Your point is truly acceptable sir, in modern world people don’t need to watch films just for “entertainment” ’cause for entertainment they can watch IPL :P. They now expect more than enetertainment, something which involves them, something which shake their head!! they need to change the way they make films. & i think this time has come. ’cause if this strike goes out for more than a month, then in this time of trouble they will have to go for the new approach in the whole making & distributing!!
agree with Ratnakar. instead of wasting 150 rupees on a single ticket in a multiplex, i wud rather wait a couple of months and buy the original dvd for 49 rupees and the entire family can watch it
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the quality of movies is deteriorating as well :(
And one more factor is the movie watching experience itself. During the 90’s, i would watch every single movie that came in a theater, costs were not too high, so even if watched a real rubbish movie( and trust me i sat through many a stinker), i did not feel robbed, as at the most I would have spent Rs 50 or maybe 100 in a really good theater. Now its not just the multiplex cost, but if i wanna have some snacks or drinks, i have to spend another 100-150 bucks, just for a cool drink and some popcorn, which is fucking insane, IMO. And after spending 500 i end up watching something like CC2C or Drona, i feel totally robbed.
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And dont give me this bullshit about viewing experience and all. The sound operation is horrible, i remember watching some movies, and the sound was put in totally high volume throughout the movie , totally screwing up the experience. And if you end up with a seat some where in the front row, the viewing experience is even more horrible, you have to literally stick your neck out, to see whats on the screen.
Abhijeet- in a way you are right about foreign studios making mistakes in India.Its not only WB which made a dud like CC2C, Sony made Saawariya and Walt Disney made Roadside Romeo ( with YRF ).So somehow they seem to be missing the bus when it comes to India.
Well Ratnakar & Rals are right- spending anything like 200 odd for a ticket alone + a lot more for Coke,Popcorn etc for a movie which you will ultimately like is something I wouldnt like too.Its now that I’m realising my love for the single screens is so strong & even started writing a series on it.
W’ll sir you have just told how you used to watch films, Do you know how we watch them? the story is these days an internet connection is cheap n the institute like IITs, IIITs,IIMs, where i’m doing btech gives it us for free.So any damn movie out there is just few google search away for me! And sir i have no shame in saying so ’cause how can a boy from middle class family can watch so much films & even can watch those films which r never released in india & it’s just not me, there are many like us. We go to theater’s only when we feel we should support the movie otherwise they stop making such …like Dev-D, khosla ka Ghosla & one more film which i really enjoyed watching it for 200 Rs was “Stranger” (one which had Jimmy Shergil & K.K.Menon but i still feel sorry that i cudn’t stop it from being a flop)
@ Abhijeet- I’m happy to hear the truth from you.when I was in B.School the ready access to the internet had already come in to the hostel rooms and even I’ve been guilty of doing what you’ve done.But I can proudly say that inspite of doing the same I was also one of the most regular theatre goer’s in the history of my B.School- thankfully those days the multiplex culture was still yet to completely set in & most of the theatres in the city( where my B.School was ) were the regular single screen theatre
@Abhijeet…excellent article..written from the heart..When the arena gets transparent and the competition gets tough, the mediocre and the copycats are getting exposed…Its happening all around and Bollywood is closing eyes and pretending its dark ,that they cannot see it coming…even Hollywood biggies have only one intention, to make money, but they expect high returns from high investments and soon will work out a process, that churns out better films that make money…Film making is an expensive art, not like painting or singing, where an individual or a group with immense talent can create a masterpiece…Filmmaking needs lot of money…You might be knowing that movies like Slumdog got made for around 15 Million USD which is perhaps amongst the lowest budget american films, but it is equivalent 60 Crore Rupees, PPP accounted, only one or two Indian movies have crossed this budget…Cinema should be good and entertaining at the same time like a ‘Shawshank Redemption’, ‘Godfather’ or ‘Lord of the Rings’ or even ‘Dark Knight’…The game is analyze the audience, write and rewrite and rewrite the script, shoot and reshoot , edit and reedit, mix again and again…till you a get a good product…This requires lot of money…But this will also give lot of returns…
Mind you, I completely agree with your post, I am just adding a few viewpoints..
@7-Dont be ashamed…its out of compulsion…we all have done it…otherwise do you think we get to see a mongolian film of our choice in the nearest multiplex…NDTV Lumiere is doin a good job nowadays by bringing in a few movies…though..My time at B-School though was spent mostly in downloading porn…LOL…then we used to have a late evening get together name ‘Board Meeting’ to see what plays where…LOL..good old days..
@ Ram V thanks for the comment sir, but what’s “NDTV Lumiere” ?
NDTV Lumiere is venture to bring in good contemporary cinema from across the world to India…There were a few films shown in TV and releasing in PVR in the last year..http://www.ndtvlumiere.com/
Palador and NDTV Lumiere are the front runners in bringing World Cinema to India in the form of theatrical releases and DVD’s.Most of the DVD’s of the masters like Wong Kar Wai,Bergman,Truffaut etc would belong to these 2 labels.
I have written an article on ‘How to enrich taste of the Good Cinema ?’.Just go through it and give suggestion about educating meaning of cinema to masses.
http://yayaver.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-enrich-taste-of-good-cinema.html
@yayaver- thanks for the comment, your blog realized me that it’s not only i whose crazy enough to leave any big corporate job being offered to me for just getting my script filmed, no matter i’m not payed even a single penny for it. & people like you & me,who qualified JEE n are expected to work as professionals don’t feel the same excitement as we have for films!!
Sorry abhijeet for self promotional comment at your article.There was no need of thanks previously as I have not even read it.Now,after reading,I can say that article was very informative and detailed account of modern cinema in India.
It is not about qualifying JEE makes you super intellect youth of India.College is just a platform to move in a particular field.We are there to shapee our life not career.Earlier the thought was that only civil services, doctors and engineers are suitable careers. Nowadays the trend is that only engineering +MBA degree combo is a sensible career.I hope you will excel in the area of your interest.And cinephile minority continues on growing.About other people:
As Oscar Wilde once said,”Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry…”
Sorry sir, i apologize for me being carried away & for discussing my personal problems here. I just felt that we two belong to a society, where no one considers this field as a career option. So i always wanted to interact with someone who has got into this field from where we are. & so i wrote ab’t your blog
Abhijeet bhai,there is no need of apologization for the fault which you have never done.Yes,you were absolutely right about the expectation of people from the iit or iim students.You have taken a very brave step but plan your career in this field for excelment.The comment which were written by me also hold true for myself also.Have a belief in yourself.Best of luck.