Pseudo Critics, Trade Analysts and the Aam Janata
iView Author: Aniruddha Chatterjee (Dallas, USA)
Email: chatterjeeaniruddha [at] gmail.com
‘ Pseudo Critics, Trade Analysts and the ‘Aam Janata’‘
Staying put in Dallas without a job for several months now, I was really frustrated. Add to that UTV’s decision of not releasing Dev.D anywhere else other than NY and LA. The next 10 days went by just searching for that one pirated version of Dev.D online. Damn…even that was not available. Amidst that read a review of Dev.D from a really learned critic (or is it trade analyst) who is famous for his one-line reviews.
The review said, “ . ..On the whole, DEV D is NO SMOKING II. Does one elaborate more”?
Teri Maa…..later…hold that thought!!! Will elaborate on that later.
Chalo…Delhi 6 is releasing soon. So, thought of digesting my frustration for all the reasons by listening to the exceptional soundtracks of Delhi 6 and Dev.D.
Delhi 6 released among mixed reviews just like Dev.D. I, however, really liked it. So, after coming back from the theater I checked what the really learned critic (abovementioned) had to say about it.
” . ..DELHI 6 has a terribly boring beginning [first hour], an absorbing middle [second half] and a weak end [climax]…”
This was the summary. That’s it. Couldn’t take it anymore. So went through all the reviews of that learned critic and compared it to the boxoffice collections of the movies and prepared an article which intended to unmask him and all the pseudo critics and trade analysts who thanks to their movie reviews and predictions have made it really confusing for the common man to decide which movie to watch.
So let me start with my punching bag and then slowly I will incorporate other analysts.
The genius filmmaker Anurag Kashyap once said, “Taran Adarsh is the son of the person who made the film “Gupt Gyan”. It is Taran’s favorite movie. Whatever he knows about cinema is from that movie.”
After such an introduction, I am sure Taran would be proud of himself if and when he reads this article.
Let’s start with what Taran does. He is a trade analyst who also review movies based on the trade indication. He is NOT a film critic. He is supposed to review the movie based on the boxoffice predictions/collections and NOT by the merit. So, the best of movies, if it flops, are supposed to be given lower ratings. On a scale of 0-5, the biggest hits are supposed to be rated 5 and the disasters are supposed to be rated 0.
Let’s see how honestly he does his work.
[Taran Adarsh's ratings taken from the website www.bollywoodhungama.com]
[Boxoffice details of each film is taken from www.boxofficeindia.com]
1. Devdas: Taran gave 1.5/5 – 33.25 crore Net domestic – Hit
2. Raaz: Taran gave 2/5 – 22.50 crore Net domestic – Superhit
3. Shakti – The Power: Taran gave 2.5/5 – 6.25 crore Net domestic – Disaster
4. Koi Mil Gaya: Taran gives 2.5/5 – 43.50 crore Net domestic – Blockbuster
5. LOC – Kargil: Taran gave 4/5 – 20 crore Net domestic – Flop
6. Dhoom: Taran gave 1.5/5 – 29 crore Net domestic – Superhit
7. Rok Sako To Rok Lo: Taran gave 3/5 – Collections not available as it is so low – Disaster
8. Bunty and Babli: Taran gave 1.5/5 – 35.62 crore Net domestic – Superhit
9. Paheli: Taran gave 4/5 – 13.09 crore Net domestic – Flop
10. Rang De Basanti: Taran gave 2.5/5 – 51.15 crore Net domestic – Superhit
11. Chak De India: Taran gave 2/5 – 67.69 crore Net domestic – Blockbuster
12. Eklavya – The Royal Guard: Taran gave 4/5 – 18.30 crore Net – Flop
13. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi: Taran gave 2/5 – 85.56 crore Net domestic – Blockbuster
14. Karzzzz: Taran gave 4/5 – 10.93 crore Net domestic – Disaster
15. Yuvvraaj: Taran gave 3/5 – 16.95 crore Net domestic – Disaster
16. Dev.D: Taran gave 1/5 – 12.5 crore Net domestic (approx.) – Hit
17. Delhi 6: Taran gave 1.5/5 – 25.3 crore Net domestic (approx…week 1 only) – Boxoffice fate undecided
Now, you can see for yourself how much of a trade analyst he is. I once again repeat that the ratings are supposed to be based on boxoffice collections/predictions and NOT based on the merit of the movie.
Taran however thinks himself to be a pseudo critic. So, let’s analyze some his reviews.
More over “Bushisms” here are our own desi “Adarshisms”.
1. Lagaan – Once upon a time in India
“… those who expect the film to be a war waged by Indians against the British will be disappointed to see a film that is devoted completely to a cricket match. This ‘battle’ is fought with a bat in the hand, not swords or guns…”
2. Dil Chahta Hai
“…The biggest flaw of the film is that it has been treated like an English film. To be honest, it is too western for the Indian masses to digest…”
3. Rang De Basanti
“…On the whole, RANG DE BASANTI will have its share of advocates and adversaries. A well-made film, it caters more to the elite and the thinking viewer than the aam junta or the masses…”
4. Karzzzz
“…On the whole, KARZZZZ is rich in entertainment. Himesh’s tremendous popularity amongst masses, its chartbusting musical score and the fact that it’s a remake of a much-loved film will only lure masses in hordes…Damn the pseudo critics who even rubbished KARZ three decades ago. Go by your instinct and have a blast!”
5. Dev.D
“…On the whole, DEV D is NO SMOKING II. Does one elaborate more?”
Does one really need to elaborate more?
Let me stop with Taran Adarsh here. Since, I am trying to be objective here, let me see what the other trade analysts in India say.
Other well known trade analysts are Komal Nahata and Vinod Marani. Unfortunately for me, Komal Nahata doesn’t publish his reviews and predictions online. So, I cannot give a descriptive study about him. Vinod Marani only does the trade analysis at Rediff. He however doesn’t review films. I found two of Komal’s recent reviews and predictions and so I will compare that with Taran and Vinod Marani.
Billu
Komal Nahata
On the whole, Billu has fair merits but they are not commensurate with the price it has been sold for to distributors. Further, given its dull start at many places, distributors would stand to lose a good part of their investments. No doubt, the film’s collections will pick up due to positive word of mouth, but that won’t be enough.
[courtesy: www.naachgaana.com]
Taran Adarsh
On the whole, BILLU is a sweet-n-simple film that lingers in your memory even after the show has concluded. The final 20 minutes are the highpoint of the enterprise and that elevates the status of the film to great heights.
Vinod Marani
Billu gets a meek opening
Thumbs Up: Cool item numbers, good performances
Thumbs Down: Predictable
[courtesy: www.rediff.com]
If we look into all the 3 reviews/analysis, other than Komal Nahata none of the other analysts even provided a proper trade analysis.
Dev.D
Komal Nahata
Director Anurag Kashyap’s narration caters to that section of the viewers which is looking for obscenity, crudity and vulgarity… On the whole, Dev D will work in select cinemas of the big cities on the strength of the youth audience. Collections will, however, face a steep fall after the weekend. In circuits like U.P., C.I., Rajasthan, Bihar etc., it will face rejection, by and large.
Taran Adarsh
“…On the whole, DEV D is NO SMOKING II. Does one elaborate more”?
Update as on 1st March 2009: Best at some multiplexes of big centres. Flop in several circuits.
Vinod Marani
No takers for Dev D
Thumbs Up: Well-made contemporary take on Devdas, great music, good performances.
Thumbs Down: Second half tends to drag, abrupt end.
Update as on 1st March 2009: Flop
We all know what the fate of the movie is – A HIT.
A lot of people will say that who cares what these pseudo critics/trade analysts write. They will watch the movie if they think if it’s interesting. Otherwise they won’t.
The problem lies in that fact that most people DO get influenced by the review of Taran Adarsh and Komal Nahata.
The problem also lies with the Production/Distribution houses.
Let’s take UTV for an example. While we all really appreciate the fact that they are producing really interesting films, there is no transparency about the cost (production + publicity + release) of the film and how much revenue it generated.
There are only speculations which actually help people like Taran Adarsh to mislead people even more.
According to boxofficeindia.com, Dev.D has so far collected 12.50 crores Net and is mentioned as Above Average.
ibosnetwork.com mentions Dev.D as Average and has collected 11.56 crore Net.
bollywoodhungama.com is even better. It shows Dev.D has grossed (not Net) 11.74 crore and says the movie is a flop.
Rediff doesn’t provide collection but says Dev.D is a flop.
Only naachgaana.com says Dev.D is a hit with collection of 13.5 crore Net.
No one knows what the actual figure is as there is no official figure published from UTV.
Only Anurag has been mentioning about the collections here in PFC.
These ambiguity in collections added to the horrible reviews DO confuse common people who wait to see how the movie does and decide if they want to watch the movie.
The exact same thing can be seen with Delhi 6. First week collections have a difference of almost upto 15 crore in different websites.
ibosnetwork.com claims around 25 crore Net.
bollywoodhungama.com as usual incomplete and mentions 8.99 crore gross. However it also claims the movie to be a flop already.
naachgaana.com says it is 25.3 crore Net.
boxofficeindia.com said around 22 crore Net.
So, the confusion continues…
In the time when so many experimental movies are being made and appreciated (although still catering mainly to multiplexes), isn’t it the responsibility of the Production/Distribution house to be transparent about the collections and also highlight the better reviews in promos so that it will induce the ‘aam janata’ to realize about the misleading info and reviews provided by the trade analysts/pseudo critics and maybe for the first time we will cater to a entirely new audience who till now were influenced and preferred to watch the movie sitting at home.
Footnote:
I do not know what ‘Aam Janata’ means. Time and again the critics talk about Aam Janata…that this film is not for them etc…I consider myself to be one.
For this article, I referred ‘Aam Janata’ to people who easily gets influenced by people like Taran Adarsh and prefer to stay back at home and watch the movie by either downloading it or when the DVD is released.
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
I understand ur frustration…
just take it the other way round…
The day Dev.D released I saw Taran’s ratings and rushed to the theater…
On the other hand when I saw his Ghajini review I decided to stay away…
One of the best and most informative pieces in a long time! Thanks a lot for pulling out those priceless quotes from Mr TaRAn adarSH’s archives.
And rediff shows Dev D is a flop. Kya hai ye???????????
Very very well researched article. I know its difficult to be objective when we are dealing with scumbags like Taran Adarsh. But job well done..sir!
excellent article!! u hv done some really good work here!
agree with u completely abt taran adarsh..i hv been following hs so calld “reviews” since the days he used to host Bollywood Bazaar on channel ‘etc’ in 1998-99…he is not a critic but a trade analyst…and not even a good one at tht! so m not gonna discus his reviewing skills here…all i’ll say is, the fact tht he tries to portray the box-office collections of every movie in such a way as to prove tht his “review” ws perfect, says it all!
so if Mr. Adarsh says in hs “review” tht XYZ movie is well made and caters to the masses, even if the collections of the movie r 5 crores in 1st week, he’ll say movie is “strong in all circuits,picking up by positive word of mouth”…if the movie performs terrible below hs expectations, he’ll say “altho the movie started slow, the real test is on saturday/sunday/2nd week/3rd week/home circuit/dvd circuit” (this hapnd in case of Billu recently)
tht scumbag shud just predict movie business and stop giving ratings as they mislead a no. of ppl who r naive enuf to believ him!
Very good article…like in Hollywood all the production houses should come up with official weekly figures. They have to be accountable and responsible.
Thanks guys
Really appreciate all the support.
——————————-
Down with Taran Adarsh…!!!
SUPERB!!!
Brilliant stuff Aniruddha.
Who says Komal Nahata online review nahi deta?
Here they are –
http://www.thefilmstreetjournal.com/
btw he has butchered every single Anurag Kashyap film! Maybe they all went over his head
)
Thanks so much for posting this. you are absolutely right about a lot of things.
Now what we really need to do is get articles like this to a wider audience by publishing it in news papers like times of india or hindustan times because 90% of the ppl in pfc agree with everything you said, we need to get the point across to people who are not here. THAT would be putting it in good use.
I guess this trio of Taran-Nahata (btw they are real life soutela cousins…Their respective fathers were soutela bhais and headed rival trade mags Trade Guide and Film Information respectively) and Mirani has created a monopoly of sorts in the “trade analyst” category. Add to that their personal agendas well how can you expect fair judgement?
Look what Taran Adarsh is stating in his latest business analysis –
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/trade/business_talk/index.html
@sharpshooter…thanx for the link…did try to find that journal…guess didnt search properly :D
@Ayush – I wish the press publishes this…so many people really needs to read this..or for that matter any article related to this…
anyone listening?
nice work aniruddha, for a lot of people Taran actually helps in taking the right decision…just do the opposite
. btw, devD predvdrip is online…;)
Nice article.
Had a question though…any idea why these trade analysts are so fond of the term – “On the whole”?
@ Narcissist:
Taran’s favorite line is “One the whole, (movie name) is a winner all the way”
Dhoom 2:
“…On the whole, DHOOM 2 is a winner all the way.”
Krissh:
“…On the whole, KRRISH is a winner all the way. ”
Ghajini:
“…On the whole, GHAJINI is a winner all the way…”
The reason he says is coz
“On the whole, Taran Adarsh is a LOSER all the way…”
Nice article Aniruddha. Very well researched, as someone said above, and also one thing I like is you have backed your facts and figures by giving the direct references. Taran Adarsh tops the list of duds. I can imagine how his life would suck because he’s doing something that he’s not good at. Maybe he’s venting his frustration with life by writing totally non-sense stuff.
Btw, aam = mango; janta = people. So aam janta would translate as mango people which would mean that people who like mango. Yay, I am part of an aam janta. :D
@sonofabeech:
Thanks for appreciating it. I had to give the references as I really want people to see how badly they are misguided by these idiots. Secondly, I gave it as I recalled the verbal thrashing I received initially from my professors here for not giving proper citations @ university. Phir se wohi galti. Baapre :D
Bang on dude…havent seen bigger chutya than Taran Adarsh…i read his reviews after watching movie just to see how much he contradicts on every aspect of film..its a shame that so called trade analysts like him r calling shots and in some way deciding fate of the movie
Maza aa gaya padh ke! Taran Adarsh is a big big dumbfuck – and if his written “reviews” weren’t enough, he has gone a step ahead and gives video interviews on bollywoodhungama.com – they are freaking howlarious! Just watch him trying to emote every line of his review. But the “best” part if how he (tries to) speaks in Engleeess, by God, main marr jaawan!! :D Btw, is he really the song of the man who made “Gupt Gyaan” :P
***For everybody***
LIST of all the films maded by BK Adarsh or Taran Adarsh’s dad
1990
Shera Shamshera
Producer
1987
Daku Hasina
Producer
1985
Nasoor
Producer
1983
Private Life :D :D
Director
1978
Sampoorna Sant Darshan
Director
1974
Gupt Gyan :D :D
Director,Producer
1971
Murder In Circus
Producer
1970
Harishchandra Taramati
Director
Don’t miss out on one of his most recent interviews with SRK as a part of the Billu campaign, wherein he is in a devastatingly tearing hurry to suck up to the star, which includes “edge-of-the seat” body language (pun intended), his patronizing smile, and of course the chat. He looks totally lost and inebriated in his video reviews (SL at # 18) which are of course a joke!
The asses out there are so desperate to highlight the business (or the lack of) of D6, it just shows it is motivated!!! Some of the perfectly crafted lines in the write-ups look so unAdarsh, you begin to wonder if it is the ghost writers. Speaking of which someone from there coming here and asking for the Frozen trailers to be put up on their site was a big farce, and a joke. On one hand they cannot even appreciate forget admire D6, and use all tools to pull it down, and the other hand someone wants to talk about Frozen that too on BH! What the Fuck! Why? only to use template phrases like “fit for festivals” “for niche audiences”???!!!
But surely they have access to stars man and how! and no second thoughts about it, TA and his reviews are guilt pleasure!
But #19 was slightly below the belt and unwarranted, Aniruddha! think about it.
@Santosh
I have received a few emails where people have expressed that I have lied about Taran being BK Adarsh’s son who made Gupt Gyan.
If you notice, even SL didn’t know about it.
So, I gave the list of movies BK Adarsh made.
I agree that I wanted people to laugh over the list of films made my BK Adarsh. If we can trash films mainstream films like Delhi 6/Dev.D, why can’t I be sarcastic about C grade films like Gupt Gyan and Private Life?
Thanks for the list! Daku Hasina! Gupt Gyaan! Private Life! Wow! :D
“…the series of films made in the early 1970s by BK Adarsh, father of film critic Taran Adarsh, such as Gupt Gyan…”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/24441280.cms
————-
The above article clearly says that Taran is the son of BK Adarsh.
Aniruddha: Great article! Had been wanting to take on messrs Adarsh, Nahata and co. myself …. but I couldn’t ever have done a better job… awesome..
P.S. When you google “Dev D box office” you get a bunch of articles which say pretty clearly that Dev D is a HIT ….these include IBNlive, NDTV, The Hindu… big names, all. So, this confusion seems to have been cleared finally….
@Kenny
Yaar you should do a karate spoof on Daku Hasina :D
@Aditya
Thanks for the appreciation
I know Dev.D is a Hit. But still a lot of people didn’t believe that. I wanted to put an end to the confusion.
I listen to peer reviews rather than critics review ,always works for me.
Regardless of how I feel about any particular critic or reviewer, I find the comments here somewhat distasteful.
It is one thing to express your views about a reviewers output, quite another to personally attack a person using foul language, language that would result in the removal of your comments if you had made them directly to the author of this post.
And, to post a list of his father’s films is a hit below the belt. That was unnecessary.
Please keep the conversation here civil and respectful. It is entirely possible to discuss your dislike for his reviews without attacking the person or his family.
@ t! – About Taran’s father…I quoted Anurag Kashyap. That is not what I said. Anurag said that here on PFC itself while discussing Dev.D.
I personally don’t think its below the belt to mention BK Adarsh’s films. I have making fun of the movies made by BK Adarsh not addressing BK Adarsh using foul language.
I have read 100s of posts here with people trashing actors, movies…so why can’t I publish the list of some trashy movies…Why suddenly get defensive…
I can’t believe it. I had read somewhere regarding Anurag joking about Taran Adarsh and Gupt Gyan, but didn’t realise that it was not a joke. I simplay can’t believe, that what he said was true. uffffff…
I believe ‘like we would no longer have exit poles, we should have no reviews, not atleast till one week of the release’.Let the movie find its own fate.
We are educated enough, knowledgeable enough to understand ourselves if a movie is good or bad, without being inclived to any lobby. Also Taran ans his likes must realise that no matter how much they tom-tom about a movie like Billoo (who he had some kind of partnership with)they cannot salvage it. I wont pay INR 200 to watch a crap like Billoo…and I didnot…
But the problem is the industry will be quiet. They created these monsters!!
But Aam janta base is far far bigger than the entire industry put together..so we still have a chance.
This Taran Adarsh I don’t understand what makes him qualified to review movies. Nikhat Kazmi’s review in Times of India is a better choice. Though she does not elaborate much.
@feroz, nikhat is decent but has a heavy SRK bias. she gave 3+*s to RNBDJ!
I largely agree on your take over Taran Adarsh and Trade analysts trying to become Movie critics. I also feel that one has a choice to follow or not to follow a particular critic. If I have read Taran Adarsh’s review on Kabhi khushi Kabhi Gum, I will never ever believe on any of his other reviews.
But then you cannot say that he is wrong, just because you disagree with him. Though I agree to a lot that you said I feel, there is nothing wrong if a person who can voice his opinions clearly and has a set of followers, voices his opinion. You can choose not to be with him.
One more thing, we have one theatre in the town at the place where I belong to. It has 120 balcony seats and about 150 stalls. Tickets for the balcony seats costs 35rs. And stalls 20Rs.. On a weekend, A housefull weekend show over there would hence mean a collection of 7200 rs. Now think of a PVR screen with the same capacity in Pune / Bangalore / Mumbai / Delhi and your modest figure would touch 48000 rs. For a housefull show!! (at 200 and 150rs. Per ticket). So what am I trying to prove ? collection figures hardly represent any truth about a movie being hit or flop if number of people who viewed the movie is a correct measure.
I have not watched Dev D. But I have a strong strong feeling that that the single theatre in my town would not have run one housefull show for the movie. So atleast I feel there is an “Aam Janta” and “Elite” concept and we my friend, who blog and who are privileged to express ourselves in the great Victorian language are not a part of the former.
Take movie reviews as just One person’s view point, don’t take it to heart sir. Let us Be and Let Them Be too.
Reading this article makes me jump and say- I told you so! Man I should have probably written this long back- have always maintained that this trade analysis business in India is the most useless, jobless thing ever.
Disappointed by your choice of quotes, though- there are so many more priceless gems waiting to be discovered at indiafm!
Enjoyable read. A bit distasteful, but what the heck…if films made for public is subject to reviews, then reviews meant for public can also be subject to reviews!!
@Jaykumar
I completely agree with you when you say “there is an “Aam Janta” and “Elite” concept”…I am myself from a small city and the Inox there never sees housefull boards unless we have a Khan or Hrithik movie.
But it is also true that most people in my city follow Taran’s review blindly and do decide so as to watch the movie or not. That is where I have an objection. When any person by providing misleading info or review can sabotage a movie, I have issues with that person. And this article is not only about Taran. Komal Nahata and Vinod Mirani is also included. It is about trade analysts first and then about reviewers.
@Jahan
I know there are so many priceless reviews but then the article would have been only about Taran. I wanted to be more objective and include more trade analysts and their viewpoints.
Well seems to me Taran Bashing, there is no need to involve Taran.s Father in the argument.
The post is not detailed and objective nor does it tries to be.
You seem to have forgotten Khalid I wonder if the exclusion was deliberate.Khalid has give movie slike Kuch Kuch hota hai 5 stars.It was know fact Khalid has bias towards some stars.
Nikhat Kazmi she know anything she gives even a bad movie 3 stars no wonder that she gave Dev,d 5 stars as rating standard for medicore movies is 3 stars dev.d being a good film deserved 5 stars to counter Taran’s 1 star.
Nikhat Can not afford to rub stars wrong way as they have filmfares and they need star to perform in the events.
Above all, critics are not astrologers that they can predict if a movie is going to be a hit or not.
And as Audience i think we should concern whetherthe movie entertained us or not.
Whether movie has recovered money or not is producer’s concern.
@cinemausher
I beg to differ but you have completely misunderstood the article. It is about trade analysts who doesn’t do their work and act as pseudo critics thereby misleading naive people who follow their reviews.
The article is about film critics like Khalid or Nikhat. A film critic is entitled to give his or her view point of the movie. We may agree to disagree to that.
A trade analyst cannot do that. He is supposed to review the movie as per trade reports.
Hope this clarifies…
Oops..type in the last post. I wanted to mean..The article is ‘not’ about film critics like Khalid or Nikhat…
@Aniruddha,
What exactly is a trade report you mean?
In Country where most of theatres are single screen and there is no record of ticket sales.
Why can not a trade analyst review movie?
Taran is a trade analyst, but what he writes for bollywood Hungama is in Capacity of film critic.
@Aniruddha, my point was that majority of cine goers live in towns which does not have an INOX or PVR or any other Multiplex.
I know my friends from my place who would still prefer a Singh is Kingg (with all due respect to the movie) to Dev D, Golmaal Returns to A Wednesday. They are the lot which goes for mere entertainment, they dont look for a thought they can chew their weekend over, or they dont even look for cinematography that moves. They dont connect to Jamal of the Slumdog millionaire but they love the surinder of Rab ne bana di jodi. I (and from your post you too)dont understand this clan though I believe they are the more close to the “Aam Janta”. Mithun’s movie in early 2000s, whatever we might say made profits, it was employment for 1000s of people, and I dont see anything wrong with it.
If Making movie for this Aam Janta is not wrong that having a film critic who claims he understand them (even if wrong), is ok.
Aniruddha, a very well-written article. Taran Adarsh is a lowlife; so he deserves this anyway. It’s actually easy to dismiss it off and say that it’s just one man’s opinion and dosen’t really matter. But that guy’s reviews are widely read. A lot of my own friends used to look upto his reviews after the release of every film to decide whether to watch it or not. Until I made them realise otherwise. He seriously has no business to behave like a film critic when he is actually a trade analyst. Quote figures and stats man…why r u bothered with looking into the merits and demerits of films. Anyway, his reviews suck big time. There is absolutely no intelligent analysis of the movie and the worst part is that he gives away major plot points. Whenever I read his reviews, I get the feeling that he has a master template into which he just substitutes the name of the film, director, actors etc. Especially read his analysis of the supporting cast at the end of each review. It’ll have the same kinda adjectives…passable, tremendous, likable, serviceable (???) Seriously, that fellow needs a life !!!
@Aniruddha
Welcome to democracy man ,where everyone can voice their opinion as long as they are within the law ,it’s insane but required.
Taran has as much right to comment as you do ,as for the responsibility part since he is the critic of a mag/website ,tell it to his employers who employ him ,if his reviews sell I don’t see why he can’t or shouldn’t comment in a particular fashion.
Live Chat: Taran Adarsh on March 4 at 1500 hrs IST in Bollywood Hungama..
Kudos for a great article. I always found Taran’s reviews lousy. He seems to live under the pretention that he can identify what the public likes. He is neither a good film critic nor a good trade analyst.
Pointless article. I think enough has been said about the Taran adarsh on this forum. I don’t see any point in reiterating it. This stuff bores me now. What we keep trying to prove that he is biased/foolish, when it has been proven n number of times.
BTW the analysis is biased. Take the movies he got right (in terms of BO performance), it will far exceed the movies he got wrong.
@sharpshooter:
Komal Nahata and Taran adarsh are soutela cousins!!
Now i know its in the genes.
I must say..this is a real discovery!! where did you get that from man!
Anirudha.. Baap ne jo movie banai uspe why r u pulling the son? would your opinion change if uske baap ne sholay banai hoti?
Iam no fan of Taran adarsh but i think that we are trying very hard to prove that Dev D is a hit.. If its a HIT the distributors would know that.
@ 32
Nikhat decent ho gayee after giving 5 stars to Dev D.. :D
really loved this write up man..
a long time hater of idiots like taran here:D
Even I had wrote a post on him in my blog long time back when he trashed swades..
@Alone,
I am not trying to prove Dev.D or D6 a hit. I personally don’t care if its a hit or flop. Either ways, UTV is not going to pay me.
If you see, in the latter part of the article I do point our that Distribution houses need to be transparent about collections and not keep everyone in the dark. The reason for all these ambiguity with different websites claiming different collections is due to lack of official collection statement from these houses.
A lot of people do wait for small indie films to do well so that then they will watch it.
@cinemausher,
There is obviously record of the ticket sales. It’s a different thing Distribution houses don’t bother to publish them due to the lack to transparency.
Coming back to Taran writing in capacity of a film critic @ BH…I think you yourself answered your question. Why would any trade analyst try to be a film critic when he is not.
The very reason Taran fails is due to this. He first tries to review the movies and then somehow fit the trade analysis according to the rating.
It should have been the opposite.
Taran adarsh is the worst critic we have. Here is an interesting article on his own critique of DEV D. Wroth every bit, it should be shown to him to defend it.
.
http://www.indianauteur.com/pulp.php.
@Bharat Bhushan
Most of those workin in da industry know it mate..
but thanks
)
Wow dude! That is some research! I guess unemployment has its benefits
I dont mind the fact that he calls Dev D No Smoking part 2 whatever thats supposed to mean..Its his personal take so I am fine with it..but what I angers me is the fact that he segregates audiences into categories, and then goes onto make speculations about their tastes, preferences etc. RDB will only cater to elite, Karz will only cater to aam junta, the fact is, no one knows who will like which film. RDB as it happens, started a cult following in India..so these lines of demarcation between “elites” and “masses” are not as well defines as these critics would have us believe.
To be honest, I only read film reviews by Ziya Us Salam (The Hindu)… and well, I wonder how many of entertainment-freaks read The Hindu anyway? I just searched Ziya Us Salam on PFC, there’s not even a single entry! I think it’s equally important to tell people there are good film critics and you don’t have to feel ashamed for reading your, say, grandfather’s akhbaar.
The rest are bakwas, as this post shows: the taste of “aam janta” is decided by the trade analysts and a lot of people do believe them, that’s really frustrating…
Aniruddha- Your article reeks a bit of the “Anurag Kashyap is God and we will lash out at everyone who speaks against him” agenda
Dude, anyone with an internet connection can be a critic these days. Look at the countless blogs that claim to “review films”! So if Taran Adarsh (who I did not know of until PFC made him famous!) thinks poorly of Dev-D then do you really think that affects its box office performance? I mean if he is the joker you claim he is then the folks who rely on his verdict for a movie are perhaps not going to like Dev-D in the first place.
If people are savvy enough to look up reviews online before watching a film then they eventually would find a reliable source for information. At the end they also rely on word of mouth (remember Sholay??)
I think we give critics more than their due share by analysing too much into what they say. Majority of these critics are wannabe filmmakers themsleves and we all know how badly their films turn out if someone foolish enough lets then make one! Don’t look too far, you have one blogging on these very pages and he used to be the arch-enemy of your boy AK not too long ago
@Aniruddha
Savio here seems to have nailed home the point.
@ Savio/cinemausher,
First of all I do not think Anurag Kashyap as god. Also, I do not have a problem with anyone reviewing anything against Dev.D or for it. It’s their opinion.
Now you will say then why criticize Taran or any other trade analysts. I am criticizing Taran coz’ he is not fair to his work. When a trade analyst becomes a critic and reviews a film and then adjusts his trade analysis according to that, he is WRONG. I am opposing to that.
I am unable to understand why you think Taran as a critic. I assumed you know the difference between a critic and a trade analyst. Seems I am wrong…
Coming back to audience who follows Taran Adarsh – well I cant tell why they do that. But it is a fact.
About Sholay – it worked on word of mouth as there was no piracy then. Had Sholay released now and if it had to rely on word of mouth, I can assure you it wouldn’t have worked as it did. The pirated DVDs of Sholay would have been out in the market even before the word of mouth started.
You also think that the people who rely so much on Taran wouldn’t love movies like Dev.D. But, if Taran didn’t exist or atleast his misleading reviews/boxoffice information wasn’t there, don’t you think these very people would have atleast tried to watch something different.
The article is not about bashing Taran. It is about every single trade analyst who doesn’t do his/her work properly and tries to be a pseudo critic and also about how the Production houses are not transparent about the film revenues thereby adding to the ambiguity about collections.
I hope you read the article again and try to get the point.
@Aniruddha
I think you are goin around in circles.
Lets clarify things here, admittedly the Production Houses do not give access to the actual trade figures. Now I have never ever read a Taran Adarsh or for that matter any review, I think I am a fair judge of my taste and go solely by the packaging (trailor) and the preview I see in cinemas.
The fact remains the job of a trade analyst is an impossible one because of the lack of transparancy. And why cant a trade analyst give critique..biased or unbiased…he has an opinion and its a take it or leave it opinion anyway.
I have read numerable articles over here about UTV products, Anurag Kashyap directorials, no one seems to have a problem with the lack of objectivity there.
Dev D might be a hit, but thats only because of the meagre cost of production. Give Anurag 50crores to spend and he will give you the biggest flop of the century. I love the movie…absolutely adore Anurag Kashyaps work, but the truth is…his kind of cinema cannot rope in 100 crores!! Mind you I am a great fan of AK, but no filmmaker deserves a pedestal. I flew to bombay from dubai just to watch Dev D, and loved it. But you have to be objective, and Dev D definitely isn’t everyones cup of tea.
Everyone has a right to their opinion, you do too…but ur article reeks of personal attacks and actually makes no sense. If you think that the opinion of a trade analyst/critic really has a telling effect on the collections of a movie, then you my friend have absolutely no clue about this business. No Smoking failed because AK was catering to one man, himself. yes alot of us might have similar tastes, but the majority (notice I dont say masses) did not like it. I dont think a great review from Taran or Khalid would make a difference. In the end the product will sell itself. I really dont appreciate your personal attacks. Lets keep this forum unbiased. I have recenty noticed this is turning into a mouthpiece for AK and UTV. How then are you any different from Taran Adarsh?
How Taran Adarsh would review a French / Polish film, hypothetically…
“… the biggest problem with this film is that it has no songs. It is also not exactly clear who the hero, heroine or villain is. The Director has clearly not understood the basic tenets of filmmaking, as a result of which this will be a clear flop. Avoid it.”
As the quality of Indian cinema rises across the board, I wonder how this pseudo-reviewer will ever keep up.
Bombay Pundit,
Great job :D
But you forgot his one-liner…
“On the whole, (movie name) is a BIG disappointment.”
:P
IndiaFM or Bollywood Hungama now, where Adarsh writes his crap, also comes up with a ‘DVD Review’.
And all of you must see what hes written for the Dev.D DVD Review, “CONCLUSION
Dev D, as put by one of the leads from the film, is a true family film. It has to be seen by an entire family, albeit by each member separately. Frankly, this is hardly a film that one could see ‘along’ with ones parents or children. It has ample shocking moments, funny moments, erotic moments, inviting moments, troubling moments and ‘now-what-was-that’ moment that would keep audience engaged and left guessing about the scene that would follow next.
Go for it! ”
To top it all, hes given it a 4 stars.
Another emaxple id like to give is, the year the Abhishek starrer Bluffmaster released, the Music Review of the film, by Taran Adarsh himself, gave the Music of the film 1.5 stars. And two months later, in February next year i see ‘Critic’s choice IndiaFM Film Awards’, Best Music: BLUFFMASTER.
and the BEST PART,
any film that’s good enough, but not costly enough, he does something even WORSE.
HE gives it Zero Stars.
and underneath, writes ‘Critique: 3 stars’
Like the 2007 flick Parzania, he ends with ‘On the whole, PARZANIA is a well-made film thats targeted at viewers of serious cinema.
Rating:- * * * [critique]. ‘ and otherwise, gives it Zero stars.
ROFLMAO.