Sponsor PFCOne
Loading ...
The Oscar Debate
iView Author:
PRANAV SINGH
(New Delhi, India)
EMAIL:
pranav.singh [at] gmail.com
The Oscars controversy refuses to die. Almost every year, we witness a sort of circus over which movie to be sent to Oscars. Last year it was RDB versus ‘ Lage Raho…’ Although the debate never stooped to the level it has this year. With the judiciary coming into the picture, the whole debate has left me cold. Personally, I don’t think either of the two movies would get the jury’s nod. All said and done, they are not ‘great’ movies.
Eklavya despite being a visually remarkable motion picture does not overwhelm me. It has all the making of a great movie yet it falls awfully short of making it to the top league. First, the director’s assertion in countless interviews about his ‘courage’ in keeping the screen completely blank for few minutes puts me off. Secondly, and more importantly, the climax simply does not fit in. All the good work of powerful characterization of the protagonist goes down the drain as he chooses to save his son. In the end, the protagonist comes across as a man who lets his blood come in his way of duty. The movie could have been such a brilliant portrayal of his dilemma to choose between his loyalty and his love but it was not to be. I doubt whether this movie would overwhelm the jury, or for that matter, even impress them. It’s not a topical movie, so it has to count on leaving the viewer truly moved, which it never does.
Dharam, on the other hand, is a topical movie. First time director, Bhavna Talwar does a good job in choosing a relevant issue. Backed by a poignant soundtrack (Sonu Nigam does a wonderful job) the movie tracks the trials and tribulations of a Hindu priest in Varanasi when he unknowingly adopts a Muslim boy. Pankaj Kapoor simply rocks as the protagonist. But the problem is that the movie relies heavily on clichés. A Hindu girl eloping with a foreigner, untouchable being beaten up, underground Hindu militant groups, all populate the screen, leaving you a little dissatisfied. The climax is also a little simplistic with Pankaj Kapoor facing an enormous crowd and getting out with few words. If only the dialogues were more intensive and thought provoking, even that climax could have been better.
Coming to another movie, Black Friday, whose name has been circulating as worthy of being sent to Oscars. Well, I have been disappointed with the movie also. It is shot very realistically and the non-linear story telling is quite interesting but at least couple of times, it left me wondering ‘what is going on’. For example the chase on the streets of Mumbai goes on and on for a long time. In fact, when I realized that the movie was going nowhere, I even went to the loo and came back only to find the chase still on. I think I can take black humor but this something else. The extraordinary time spent on tracking the movement of the character played by Aditya Srivastava was also quite puzzling.
So there, I think history is going to repeat itself. Mr. Chopra (if allowed by the High court) will spend a fortune in ensuring that his ‘David Lean’s lost masterpiece’ is watched by the jury. But in the end, it is going to lose to some more poignant, powerful piece of motion picture from some other corner of the world.
Good luck Mr. Chopra.
28 Responses to “The Oscar Debate”
Leave a Reply
Our Comments Policy : The following kinds of comments are troll capped, blocked and/or commenter's identity reported publicly: Verbal abuse, personal attacks, hate statements, spam, trolls, advertising. Please assist us in keeping the comments clean. Use the contact form to let us know if you find unwarranted comments on PFC. Thank you.
- Neeraj Pandey Wanted : Dead or Alive!!!
- A Week With Anjum Rajabali, Sriram Raghavan and Anurag Kashyap
- Wednesday - and why I don’t read reviews !!!
- Two Dollops of Hope, Too Many Sprinklings of the Unreal
- When Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher met on A WEDNESDAY
- Wednesday - and why I don’t read review
- Review of A Wedn
- A Wednesday R
- A Week With Anjum Rajabali, Sriram Raghavan and Anurag Ka
- Two Dollops of Hope, Too Many Sprinklings of the U
Recent Posts:
Hottest Today:
[...] Oxbeeco wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptComing to another movie, Black Friday, whose name has been circulating as worthy of being sent to Oscars. Well, I have been disappointed with the movie also. It is shot very realistically and the non-linear story telling is quite … [...]
the chase scene in black friday which you’ve mentioned is one of the better scenes of the film. though i do think that in terms of structure and movement, film lacks smoothness. its little bumpy and at times you wonder that where its going.
havent seen dharam. now i want to watch it. but as far as eklavya goes, vvc doesnt need to behave liek this. he has delivred some great cinema,should maintain his integrity. his replies to everyone whoever is pointing fingers at him, he is losing much respect. the way he goes on n on about his david lean lost film, i cant take it anymore. how can someone be so egocentric? even if u watch the making of eklavya, every actor was sitting with vvc n speaking to him that what great filmmaker he is n this n that. n vvc was smiling all the way as if that was all the truth. how can u be so self obssesd. looks like evryone is on the same way…ramu,vvc. with this kind of attitide, i think people start juding the filmmaker more than the films. and thats not a great thing. VVC surely needs few lessons from raj kumar hirani on how to behave in public.
eklavya had flawed characters, good cinematography and decent performances could only be its credits, though it wasted sanjay dutt, jackie… at the end it all felt like a conspiracy… i wrote a review long back dissecting what i did not like in its characters, here it goes http://www.chakpak.com/profile/dinrat/review/good-performances-but-characters-are-flawed…/15/91
definitely not worth the oscars, havent seen dharam, what do ppl think of dor though?
i second u “PHOENIXNU” he truely needs some lessons in keepin himself grounded !!!
neway i too felt that the chase scene was one of the better scenes, and i believe that “black friday” would have had a chance!!! i loved the movie !!!
TRUE. SO TRUE.
I agree with you on Eklavya. It is undoubtedly visually stunning, but then that’s all it is! Wax statue of Aishwarya Rai may be as good looking as the lady, but can’t win Miss World pageant! Eklavya lacks any kind of feelings, passion.
That chase sequence in the movie……well it didn’t bore me…..it is one of the most memorable scenes in that movie
Eklavya was a good movie. To indian viewers it looked abrupt because they are used to long movies with streched out emotions and naach gana. The movie was brief and did not stoop to unnecessary commercial traps.
VVC is right when he talks about Bollywood movie makers who have a crab mentality.
Well, regarding black friday…the irony of a terrorist of situation could never be shown more brilliantly than what is shown as Badsha Khan’s(Aditya’s)endless running to seek a refuge and what a smooth criminal Tiger Memon was(is ?)
I hope you watched Kill Bill Vol :1 also and would really like to know whether the fight scene with 0-EN-Rishii had evoked the same boredom for you.
My recco for you would be the whole series of “Fast and Furious”
Amen
I can’t believe I emailed PFC Iview on Sunday, writing the same stuff that I am reading here right now and as also in comments of other people.
At least the jury of PFC is (almost) unanimous (almost to the last written word of people who support it and those who don
cant believe tht u guys are talking so high of Eklavaya…
VVC had given master pieces… which ones r u talking about ?
his first film, whcih every one ehars abt now but noone has ever seen ?
Parinda ? tht watered down clone of “On the waterfront” ?
1942 ? who remembers it now ? as far as my memory goes, it was RDB’s swan song. period.
kareeb ? mission kashmir ?
Gawd !!!!
Is this all what the “master director” has managed in all 20+ years ?
Oscars - damn it… who decides which film to send in there ?
In IRAN, the govt: decides it and they support the film to the hilt.. here tis decided by a motley association of hindi film priducers.. who neevr know whats good cinema..
Thats why India and the “Cinemas of India” is being insulted repeatedly in US with films like devdas, RDB etc being sent for Oscars…
regarding BF, i agree, the chase is singularly the best scene in the film, probably the best captured in indian cinema. among the other powerful scenes in the film are - Dawood’s entry, and the bomb blasts and following montage, and pavan malhotra’s scenes. they are awesome and right up there with some of the best pieces of world cinema.
having said this, the overall movie has a disjointed feel and doesnt leave the same impact as the forementioned individual scenes. the acting and direction were good, which means, the flaw possibly lay in the script.
Have seen Eklavya and Black Friday and IMO, neither stood any chance at the Oscars. Have said it before on this forum and I’ll repeat that Omkara would’ve been a far better choice than any other movie…Dharm included, though I haven’t seen it yet.
rags…Iranian cinema should be taken up as a case study in our film schools. There is a certain maturity in their movies which was last seen in Indian cinema decades ago. I saw Majidi’s Children of Heaven yesterday and I’d say that it was light years ahead of any children’s film ever made in India save probably the Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Kitaab, all made years ago. Another wonderful example of Iranian class is Jafar Panahi’s The Circle.
We need to rise much higher than the current fare we’re doling out if we’re really looking for Oscar glory. Movies in India are made for the box office and so, most of our filmmakers lose out on the objectivity required to bring a universal appeal, which is a prime requisite for Oscar glory. Case in point - Lagaan. I’ve come across thousands who have ranted endlessly about Lagaan having been denied justice by the “Gora” jury. I know its a media induced jingoistic frenzy which is lapped up by our frog in the well audience, but that shouldn’t be an excuse anyways. My sincere request to all these doubting thomases would be to watch the eventual winner in the foreign film category that year - No Man’s Land. Lagaan looked so juvenile when compared to NML.
I rest my case. :-)
Forgot to mention something else in response to rags’ comment. I do not agree with your evaluation of VVC’s work.
Parinda might’ve been a watered down version of OTW. But the ambience of the movie was so different and unique. That’s what made the movie the masterpiece it is.
Who remembers 1942? The “who” you talk about here doesn’t even know that there exists a Do Bigha Zameen, a Bandini and a Do Aankhen Baarah Haath. Does the “who” really matter?
Kareeb & Mission Kashmir, I agree, were complete duds in all respects. But did you know that long before Parinda, he had started off with 3 extremely taut thrillers (Murder at monkey hill, Saza-e-Maut and Khamosh). That sarcasm in your post was a bit uncalled for.
The only indian movie from what i’ve seen so far that can be called “oscar standard” is Shekar Kapoors Bandit Queen. There was a kind of integrity to good film making in it when i saw it long ago,but might have a different opinion now.
Ekalavya is a waste of time and money..the movie wasn’t trying to say anything worthwhile except show case some visual gimmicks. This shows in its over deliberate and overdramatic pace and Big B..the man should take a break forever instead of promoting a string of inferior idiotic movies.
As it was mentioned above about Iranian movies , the new wave of Thai movies are really well made and interesting as well as Korean movies.These regional movies never enjoyed the kind of patronage, money and reach as Indian movies. But in terms of quality they are way ahead of Indians.
Instead of showing off the emphasis should be on understanding and improving film making.
I should say Bollywood instead of Indian movies..cos i see some realy good movies coming up in Tamil and Telugu. BOLLYWOOD A DISGRACE TO THE ART.
…regional cinema has a rich heritage. I remeber Doordarshan used to telecast regional movies on Sunday afternoons which i would always watch with my father. It was telecasted along with the Subs. But later on they introduced Local language subs. which did dissappointed me..i would stil try n follow without the subs..which i still do. I would love to watch mainstream tamil and telegu or malayalam movies but the language is a problem. I want to watch some of Adoor Gopalakrishnans movies. Never been lucky.
In IRAN, at some level, the government is run by religion and in turn, GOD the good Lord himself. So, one of the solutions could be to let the priest and their holy tribe take over the business of governing India
You have a point there Travis. But even down south, the commercial successes are only formula movies. The good fare doesn’t really go beyond the discerning viewer. And for every Kannathil Muthammital, you have two dozen Sivajis. And in the largest film industry in India, for every Godavari, you have 50 Stalins.
What we need is a serious upswing in the number of quality films being produced rather than just basking in the glory of the odd good one. Thats what will really make India a prominent name on the global cinema scene.
dont agree with Narci’s comment about Lagaan. i have seen No Man Land. Lagaan is the better film in every aspect. NML won on political grounds and not on merit.
Its background around the Serbian-Bosnian conflict which was a topical issue at the time and the film depicted with irony the ’safe-keeping’ provided by the UN troops through the eyes of two individuals trapped in a no-man’s land being ground out by bureaucracy and political correctness. i checked out this movie bcos of its oscar win, but besides its interesting premise (true incident?), the overall film was a big yawn. a much superior film on the same conflict is the ‘Savior’ starring dennis quad, i suggest u check that out.
oscar or not, AK’s Lagaan remains a milestone in indian cinema.
I didn’t mean to be disrespectful towards Lagaan in any way. It was a great movie no doubt. It entertained throughout; had great music; wonderful visual feel and sweet pace. But beyond all that, it was also predictable (no one’s fault, 99 out of 100 underdog sports movie would be so) and was full of cliches (the benevolent but meek and pacifist king, the overused underdog, the much reviled Kachra gaining redemption by becoming the surprise package etc.)
No Man’s Land, on the other hand was a subtle slap in the face of all those who are responsible for war. It was not just a more topical subject, it was a far better use of the medium to convey a stronger message than what Lagaan did. That’s why I find it a better movie. Moreover, in spite of being an anti-war movie, it was a light movie without compromising anywhere on logic and reason. Awesome job.
@ The Narcissist
// Who remembers 1942? The
Narcissist, do u rememeber 1942 or parinda or kareeb or the first 3 films of VVC the same way u remember an Aakrosh, kalyug, drohkaal, ardh satya, manthan, bhumika, mandi and countless other films ?
to continue from the last post..
its really scary if u remember all these films along with a 1942 love story !!!!
Point conceded @ rags :-)
Vidhu Vinod Chopra, defending Eklavya
eklavya…was a …DISAPPOINTMENT..
VVCs films get hyped so much..
I am not competent to judge films and decide what is a masterpiece ..I liked Parinda…
what I am more worried is about our fixation with Oscars…why why why?
just leave it…make a movie that I want to watch again and again…that will leave an impression in my mind ..that can elevate my sense of being…
where are such movies…?