Phoonk Fall of RGV
iView Author: Ankit (Mumbai, India)
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Phoonk Fall of RGV
Back in 1989, for a north Indian like me any movie from South India meant a hero who looked like the gatekeeper at Taj Man Singh (only two shades darker), a heroine who looked like the “BEFORE” pic model of VLCC slim centers and a villain who looked as if he just came back after having an oil massage,
Bollywood was also having its own troubles
Dharmender was still busy ripping apart enemies and drinking their and their pet’s blood in “Elaan-E-Jung”, “Hathyaar”, “Kasam Suhaag ki” etc. Mithun was busy saving his sisters from Shakti Kapoor with movies like “Hisaab khoon ka”, “Daata” and if this was not enough “Gareebo ka Daata” was also released in the same year. Amitabh was losing his ground. Govinda was busy romancing with Neelam and dancing to the tunes of Bappi da in “Aasman se Ooncha”.
Amir khan was launched (1988) but then he fell in love with juhi who bhi 3-3 baar in LOVE LOVE LOVE, Salman Khan was shadowed by Bhagyashree in the super duper hit young love story “Maine Pyar Kiya” and SRK was still doing rounds on DD national with his “Circus”. Movies like “Ram Lakhan”, “Parinda” made their mark but the efforts were too small to counter the mayhem created by the industry as a whole.
Bollywood cinema was driven by loud music, crazy costumes and villains who loved to see the heroine’s “NAACH” before pulling the trigger. “Oye Oye. Tirchitopi wale” was a national anthem and Anil Kapoor defined the spirit of Mumbai with “Bom bom bom bom BOMBAY meri hai”.
But in the middle of all this came a movie from South India with a new hero who although had a mustache but was much slimmer than his predecessors. None heard about the hero nor the director. No words about the heroine, well at that time there were no Ash or Katrina so guys hardly paid any attention to that aspect. Sridevi was already an established name in Bollywood and she stopped doing movies with Jeetender.
The movie was based broadly on the same framework as of “AAAAYEEEEEE SAAALAAAAA” Mithun’s movie where the hero is squeezed then hammered to the point of desperation. And in the desperation he turns to a man of anger and physics defying movements killing every guy who once had a go at him. But it was the treatment of the movie, the brilliant screenplay, the near to perfection performance of Nagarjuna and the touch of a true genius Ramu’s direction. The plot was realistic because of background of college campus, there were no “Sarhad paar ke mujrim” or Chemical Farmula to destroy humankind.
Its intense drama, based on the college politics was something to which many students related. Cycle chains were stolen across India to be used by roadside ruffians. It displayed the technical superiority of The director with gripping camera movement. Even though the movie was an intense and very violent thriller each and every character was written in depth and dialogues were realistic.
SHIVA was here Nagarjuna was a superstar and Ram Gopal Verma’s name was noticed.
Ram Gopal Verma had arrived and with a bang… this was followed by another landmark horror movie in Bollywood “Raat”. RGV proved his worth and established himself with movies like “Sarkar”, “Satya”, “Company”, “Rangeela”. Apart from directing movies himself he even produced movies like “Shool” and ” Ab tak Chappan” to support promising directors.
It looked like RGV’s company is going to bring unconventional cinema with good scripts for years.
But over the years like his taste in woman his quality of movies also deteriorated and which brings us to the latest offering ” Phoonk”. After watching phoonk I was devastated not by the constant focuses on the bizarre looking soft toys and artifacts in the house, neither by the maid who carried one expression throughout the movie, neither by the hero who looked like a rickshaw driver and had the dressing sense comparable to “Ibu Hatela ” from Dombivilli, Neither by the rock solid performance of the crow (he stayed motionless like a rock throughout the movie), neither by the special effects of buzzing bees which clearly showed lack of producer’s funding, neither by the grandma who wobbled her head whenever she wanted to and took long breaks in between, neither by the heroine who got 3 dialogs in the whole movie, the list can go on for so long that it might be even longer than the original script.
But I was devastated by the fact that Ramu has become so predictable, its like he has completely lost his touch. The man who defined a whole new genre in Indian film industry is running out of ideas to figure out where to put his camera. He is running out of ideas to surprise the viewer. He is running out of background scores. He is running out of color shades to put on the next frame. He is running out of creativity and the technical brilliance, which once used to be his forte, is reduced to ashes in his latest flicks.
Being the guy who works in the big bad corporate world for 5 days and rely on the regular bollywood dosages to recharge my mojo I feel crushed and suffocated under the weight of my own expectations.
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So true.
And once he reads what you have written, there will be another predictable ‘my reactions to reactions’ e.g. ‘why are you wasting time on my movies’ or ‘don’t watch’ or ‘don’t patronise me’ or ‘thanks for the gyan’ or ‘that just explains how much more pathetic you are’ etc etc…
PFC - No offence to the kid writing the piece above but is this some “Rip that Old fuck Ramu apart” month?? Every kid on the block appears to want to take a stab at the poor overrated asshole… as if writing some obit on Ramu will give him some street cred!
We get it - Ramu is over and dead…. now move on and bring in some originality!
yaar kaafi ho gayaa…fed up of thse rants…plz use ur grey cells and come up with sum fresh write ups…!!
@ Rocky: Well said. His blog, albeit interesting, is very irritating. And I’m fed of His ‘Reactions’ to Reaction. I mean we are giving him more importance than he deserves. ( Padh le Ramu beta, ispe jo react karna hai kar!!). When he makes a really good movie, we would talk about it then( and also appreciate it). Until then, I’m done with Ramu, hope same is the case with you people too.
And @ aMYTH: Sai baat hai. KAAFI HO GAYA. Is zamane me film n filmmakers aur bhi hain ;).
You what guys… for whatever its worth, I’m still really looking forward to watching “Phoonk”… At the end of the day that’s what matters the most to any filmmaker…
you guys have proved it again…..chad te sooraj ko sab pooj te hai….instead of wasting your time and money on Ramu why dont you guys come up with an excellent script of all his flops and bad movies….now that would be something worthwhile for you guys instead of bitching!
Dear All
One thing is sure, RGV is the most happening brand in the industry. Everyone is giving so much importance to this filmaker. (let it be critcism or wht da fuck)
RGV is distinct in his own way..whos as popular as any Khans N Kapoor heros which is something unconvetional. Comeon who cares abt director in India, except ass like us.
I dint like srakarraj, phoonk n contract but,butt n buttocks…
my money is not wasted!!! Thank you RGV
@Ankit
I felt offended with your write up, especially with your reference to SOUTH..thas a very derogatory n subjective abuse. You tried to coverup by citing North, but it was just a cover up..i know mate, you hate….but show it naaaa
ok naaaa
Dont show it naaa
It’s the jilted lover phenomenon.
We loved him and his films, even the flops, once upon a time. Now he has betrayed us by making awful films, including the ‘hit’ ones. He has, to borrow a phrase from great Hindi films of yore, gone bewafaa.
That’s it, bewafaa Ramu. And we the jilted lovers moping pointlessly in the corners.
bewafaa ramu….
lolz…rocky he will definitely chuckle at that….
Enough guys..let’s move to other movies, other directors, other passions….
“.. hero who looked like the gatekeeper at Taj Man Singh (only two shades darker”
“…looked like Rickshaw Driver”..
That sums up your ‘north indian’ attitude. FYI, rickshaw drivers are humans, too. So are gatekeepers. They have every right to be chronicled as heroes as much as you and I. Any problems? Or only South Bombay dudes , fair, neat and well-dressed an be heroes?
And this is published in a site renowned for its nuanced critics and writers.
Wow! We bow to you, ‘North Indian’ descendant of Nadir Shah.
Agree with yeah. That remark was very offensive and seriously uncalled for. Please keep such stuff out of articles.
And yes, we do really need a break from Ramu, and so does he need one from us.
Yeah …agree with you completly. Happened to watch a reality show on Zee TV reality show where the contestant was dancing to the tune of a tamil song ..with his face darkened , wearing a lungi and afunny expression on his face…Dont really get this attitude of people…..
Really feels like calling these so called bollywood directors who directs nth rated movies with pea brained ideas and hype it to eternity…and show them movies like paruthiveeeran , veyil ..etc etc
@ yeah and Jayakumar,
We’ll have to understand the fact that Indians, including us, are basically racist and no use in telling abt good cinemas of ours. I dont consider those people’s comments seriously. They are just illiterate. What to do huh?
What concerns me is the fact that how PFC allowed that content to be published? I thought they were literate and concerned people.
@yeah,ShivKumar
views in an article belong to an individual who has written the piece as PFC does not edit the article/s and publish as sent by the author/s.
Sometimes the zest to make material more humorous in nature goes awry and views/points/remarks dont appear as he had thought at the time of writing.
Till author himself does not express his real intentions behind some remarks which readers find objectionable we should give him benefit of doubt. If not for him then for the sake of keeping the focus of discussion on the cinema related points only.
Author might have been 11-16 year old when Shiva was released and his remark (however and whatever bad impression that might carry) is his memory/impression of that old time. Cinematic exposure of audience was different then and one thing was surely not there which we enjoy now. A discusssion about film was limited (to very few people only in a group) and it hardly carried any depth or good knowledge about cinematic aspects of the films.
I recall when Judai (Boney Kapoor Production) was released, I came across a group of people, some were from Southern part of India and some from North India and they were busy in (jokingly) discussion who looked beautiful and better (Sridevi or Urmila)? South Indians were accusing their North Indian friends that they liked Sukhi lakdi type Urmila and Sri Devi was a beautiful voluptuous lady as a woman should be. North Indian guys were joking with their south indian friends that they had a liking for fat women and did not care for Urmila who owned a good figure.
—
We should take it easy and lightly. We have no reason to believe that author has used the remarks to insult some people.
—
Re: second remark about Phoonk. I find it quite interesting that because of this fact that now people have many options in the career related areas and they are exposed to different kind of working areas and they travel a lot, job of directors (Indian cinema) has become quite difficult.
If a director is showing a character as successful high profile professional or a rich and modern and successful businessman then audience of today’s era expect that this character follows the dresses, etiquette and behaviour etc, they have been observing in real life. A little carelessness from the side of director and his team and people start objecting to that.
An awareness has come among the audience.
In the discussion about regions and regional issues, we should not forget such cinematic aspects.
RGV had made a good entry in Hindi cinema through Shiva.
There was a time in 1989 when Aamir Khan’s Raakh and RGV’s Shiva were very popular among the audience. VCR impact was still affecting the Indian cinema and Raakh was mostly available on VHS only but Shiva was seen in cinema hall also and on VHS also it was a very popular film. It was different at that time.
Not only hero villain part and campus based fun but the relationship angle was also handled in a very beautiful manner.
Tension between Shiva (Nagarjuna) and his Bhabhi (Sister In Law), Helpless situation of his elder brother and Shiva’s affection towards small kid of his elder brother, all things were impressive.
Raghuvaran, though looked like an imitator of Amitabh Bachchan, surely was an added attraction in the film.
Whatever RGV may say today about Shiva that it was very raw and he was not having a refined understanding of filmmaking, Shiva still is better than most of his later days films.
@RK
Thanks for your comments. I have got a lot of n.indian friends - office colleagues who are as much concerned as me. It is just that a few people here and there who try to insult S.Indians. But, its OK… it all happens…
@Jahan
“And yes, we do really need a break from Ramu, and so does he need one from us.
”
ha ha ha that was really funny but the funniest part was”so does he need one from us.” so a one more critic is there now against a film maker
there was a time whn i used to come to PFC and it exceeded the time i spent on rediff or orkut but not any more ,its not like ke site nahe chaleghe any more but its just not the same thing now ,now it has become a refuge point for failed,”aspiring”,frustrated filmakers and critics(apart from few) who think they are the only one out to save indian cinema ,rest all including rgv,chopra,bansali,johar etc etc dont no nything ,they are all here to make money
recently i went to srftii ,there also same scene was happening ,the guy in orientation speech critiiczed david dhawan,ritupurno ghosh saying that they are all sold to bombay cinema ,we ll not do it (later on i got to know that he passed out in 99 and still to make a movie:))
but then i think the can come to PFC :),just joking ha
but i wish it reutrns to its original avatar ASAP
Band karo yaar, yeh Ram Gopal Chalisa.
lols@inca…mushkil hai…after very rgv release
4/5 posts of this nature hamesha hote hai on this site
@Jayakumar, Sivakumar, Jahaan
This is the first time i wrote something for PFC and never ever thought a simple blog post is going to start such a fuming discussion.
Now when I read it again I really find it offensive but in my defense the intention was not to hurt anybody’s feeling but just to add some humour. In my other blogs I have written about Mithun, Calcutta and even about people from my birthplace UP. But that does not matter because I still feel it was just a joke and should be taken in the right spirit.
As far as Rickshaw driver goes, I know they are human and I had no intention to humiliate anybody. Its just another way of writing a joke.
We Indians can’t laugh on ourselves, I seriously think we should free ourselves a little bit.
If anybody was offended by my article I apologize and will keep that thing in mind.
hey there! Ramu loves you all at pfc! do jeetni gaali deni hai pfc waa lo…………
Ankit, i appreciate your decency in replying. However, humour also needs to be classy :-). I should add something here:
I am sure Ankit and friends never get to watch the Kurta-Pyjamaed-Nambalki-Nimbalki-spewing-Seth character in Tamil movies. If you did, you will understand why exactly that isn’t classy humour. If you did, you would understand that your own attempts at humour, namely pandering to south indian stereotypes, are equally pathetic.
I should also add to Sivakumar and others that while we get rightly offended at portrayal of South Indians in Hindi movis, I wonder if you guys get equally offended by the reverse. The portrayal of Seths in Tamil movies, I mean.
In short, Ankit, the problem is not that “We Indians lack sense of humour”. The problem is, South or North, we lack a “classy sense of humour”. For either region, stereotyped representation of the other region is comedy. Therein, my friends, lies the problem. One should include the Bollywood representation of the Bengali and the Sardarji to the streotypical, pathetic comic sense of bollywood, though, ofcourse, our turbanned friends have got around that by the process of gradually Punjabising bollywood.
I thought Aamir Khans latest turn as a Punjabi couple in a Cola advertisement is absolutely pathetic. I refuse to believe that thats’ how a Punjabi talks or acts.
RK, yes, Ramu claims that Shiva was raw and Kshana Kshanam was just a fluke. The man must be treated for delusions.
He hasnt made a movie thats better than either of the above 2. Maybe, just maybe, Satya. But that may be because he had some strong writers with him for that one.
As an aside, I know quite a few succesful professionals, especially in South India, who care two hoots about party-dressing or any decent dress sense. Things need not be 100% uniform across the world. Bombay is not the world. I find that people make a lot of fuss about dress-sense here in MUM. My friend, that doesnt happen so much even in the same kind of environments in Hyderabad or Chennai, from my experience. There might be some truth to the Stereotype of the shabbily-dressed South Indian.
Also, considering the amount of importance Mumbai professional circles place on Dress sense and the need to be ostentatious, I wonder if Mahatma Gandhi would have made as much impact in today’s india. Maybe, we would be echoing Winston Churchill and dismiss him as a half-naked fakir, today.
@Yeah (26),
Great people dont influence people by their dress code(only). Whatever they wear become suitable for them. A Gandhi is equally effective in a western suit or an indigenous dhoti kurta or simply a dhoti.
Because we dont have impressive and influential personalities around us so we think this way. Because they influnece their times so market salute them and then people naturally follow their every code.
If impressive people Gandhi, Bose, Vivekanand etc were present today then a large population would have been following many things opted by these gentlemen.
Those who are not seen among us and average are accepted as such. Nobody objects what Yoga teacher Ayengar has been wearing or what Baba Ramdev wears now. They are accepted first because of their extraordinary skills and dresses etc come later.
Selfish gene of people should be satisfied and then nothing matters.
I am not sure about the “Classy sense of humour” side of the argument but just imagine. How many of the south Indians laugh at sardar jokes or Haryana ke Jats jokes or Bihar ke Bhaiya jokes. Every community has some stereotypes and this is common across the world. But the bigger issue is do we need to cry out loud every time.
Anybody who would have read my post must have understood that the intention was no way to downgrade any community or region. But people forget to draw the line when to protest and when to just sit back and smile.
If you don’t find it funny its okay but if you find it offensive that is outrageous.
Ankit , absolutely.You hit the nail. It is not that your post was offensive. The point is it wasnt funny, infact, it was pathetic humour.
If this is the sense of humour you want Indians(or anyone else) to develop, then, well, Navjyot Sidhu would qualify to be Prime Minister of that nation. Or even King.
RK, thats what I am saying. Dress is immaterial. Some succesful people dress well, some dont. To judge people by dress, as is done constantly in Mumbai Professional Circles, or in general, is held as a tasteless humour point against South Indians, in general(because most succesful people who dress badly or South Indians, fact.), reflects immaturity.
Much as you try to masequerade as the old wise hand here, your comment betrayed that (when you thought aloud about a succesful professional in the Phoonk movie being incongroulsy badly dressed) mentality. Ramu is right. Sudeep in the movie is succesful and badly dressed and that is a very real take - not a blooper as you insinuate.
@yeah
If you will go back and read all the comments again you will understand people found it offensive. People didn’t question the quality of jokes but they had problems with “A north Indian guy” and “Auto rickshaw”.
So you see there is no hitting on the nail here. Anyways I have lost interest in the whole thing. I wanted to make my point clear that I did.
Now the whole issue is like Manisha Koirala, too old and too messy…..so nobody else cares too.
You better stick to your eye candy(!) heroes like Govinda and Chunky!
What are the features of a rickshaw driver that you find common with Sudeep?
As if a chocolate faced hero would have lifted up the quality of the movie!
Ankit, whatever. I am talking about the post, not the reactions. In any case, if you think thats humour, then, I am sorry you need help with developing a good sense of humour. Well, if you can advise Indians in general to develop a sense of humour, i guess I can advise you to develop a sense of good humour. Never mind. Neither is going to happen.
Kid(Ankit),
I am a dark skinned south indian with a moustache. You can add more stereotypes if you like to. But I have better manners and better knowledge about world cinema than you do. So kid, try to understand, analyse or criticize cinema..firstly grow up!!!!
If all you can criticize in a movie is bad dressing sense and looks etc..how can you ever watch something like Pather Panchali? How much of south cinema have you ever watched?
har koi uth ke aa jata hai critic banne
And dont give me that “Indians not funny” crap. I know deep down you are racist.
Rk, mama banna chod..talk for yourself..be a man.