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The Truth Behind a Meaningful Cinema
It’s really amazing the countless number of times that I have been told that the cinema has always got to be meaningful. MEANINGFUL ??? Yeah, so what really is meaningful. Is it a dark, brooding film that always ends in tears or is it that artsy film ending with almost always a social message. Well, get hold of a kid down the street and for him Dhoom 2 would be meaningful too. For a comic-book enthusiast a Spiderman, 300 or a Sin City would be very meaningful. Come to think of it, if you really want, you can pick up even a mindless flick, twist it in your own way and get meanings out of it.
“What are you saying man?? Tell me how was Spiderman 3 meaningful??” Well.. Good wins over Evil.. always.
“Yeah??? So how was Hera Pheri 2 meaningful??”.. Ummm… idiots can be winners too..hah
Ok, on a more serious note how meaningful should any cinema be?? I have always thought that there is a room and need for every kind of genre under the sun. Any country’s movie industry is representative of the kind of culture that it has. More so in countries like America and India where the society is so vibrant and colourful. So in Hollywood while an “Elephant” or “Kids” will take you inside the gory, frustrated, sexually charged and totally lost world of most of the American teens today; a”Mighty Heart” or a “Million Dollar Baby” will show you that a person’s true self can only be gauged from the way he/she conducts oneself in the most turbulent of times. But then there would also be mindless flicks like “Scary Movie” or “American Pie”. In India for every “Black friday” there is also a “No Entry”. Infact take a look at Iran. A cinema reknowned for its “new wave” makes so many out and out commercial films (and yes some of them are as mindless as a “Kya kool hain hum”) that its mind boggling.
Let me narrate a small fact. As a kid I always hated school. But there were times when things turned really bad. I would bunk the class and find solace at the near-by upmarket Priya cinema hall in Delhi. And I am embarrased to say this now but the movies that I would go for would either be B-grade Hollywood action films or C-grade Bollwood comedies. But what these shitty movies would do is to take me inside a fantasy world where I could forget all my worries, go back home and be prepared for the next day’s punishment at school for not completing my homework. In fact, it wasn’t until my 10th standard that I could boast of having watched a descent art flick. Those were really the days…
Anyway, so the big question now. Do we really need to stack the Karan Johars, Aditya Chopras and David Dhawans in a gunny bag and throw them in the Arabian Sea. I don’t think so. I think Indian cinema needs them as much as it needs an Anurag Kashyap, RGV or Nagesh Kukunoor. Yeah. yeah… I’m waiting for the knives to come out….
22 Responses to “The Truth Behind a Meaningful Cinema”
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you are spot on pankaj..we need all kind of cinemas to coexist.. but until now only the other kind existed here.. its only now we coexist.. and we always defend our kind, our own.. there needs to be contradiction, ans disparity and diversity.. for the world to go on.. if there is nothing to fight against then its pointless to live.. it’s better to be a rebel with a cause then the rebel without a pause.. Darwin’s theory also applies here.. so to each his own
Pankaj // Thanks for the honest write up. Good stuff - except that RGV perhaps belongs in the other stack, with Johars and Chopras.
Popularity means opinion of the street. Take it in this way; public likes songs and dances like cholee ke peeche kya hai. This in no way means that it is also good for them! If you show blue films to the public, in the open market, they will watch it leaving their work! But does that means you are going to show such things? What do you mean by popular opinion? If you go beyond your social and cultural ethos, and even if the market likes that you have to use your mind.-shyam benegal
for more enlightment,red this link-
http://passionforcinema.com/still-relevant-shyam-benegal/
Pankaj, are you saying that watching those b grade films in Priya, refreshed your mind and made you happy at the end of the day so you forgot all about the punishments the next day at school? Are you saying that watching meaningless cinema refreshes peoples minds than watching meaning ful cinema which makes them think, which stirs their souls and which pushes them to challenge their country’s political and judiciary system? Are you saying that’s the reason in our country meaning less cinema does more business than meaning ful cinemas, and meaning less cinema is destroying the business of meaning ful cinema. Then why don’t we throw the meaning less into the Arabian sea so that the meaningful thrives. Where is the question of co existing? Or is there! And what did you mean by art cinema? What is art cinema anywhich ways? Are you saying Adoor gopalakrishnan is art, or Nagesh is art, or Wong kar wai is art? is Majid Majidi art or abbas kiroastami art? Whats art? And is art necessarily in the bracket of meaningful cinema? Or meaningful ciema is in the bracket of art? Whts the difference? can you tell me, please- art and meaningful cinema..
more dumbing down?
Thanks Anurag. It’s people like you who keep the Indian indie flame burning high and inspire people like us.. (P.S: it would really be wonderful if could you please tell us - what to you is an art cinema)
wow..wow.. Suchita.. you really are a crusader aren’t you :-? I guess, the very defn. of an art film could vary from an individual to individual and a filmmaker to filmmaker. I tried looking up for the definition on the internet, however the answers that I found didn’t really satisfy. For eg, a defn from wikipedia
” An art film is a typically serious, noncommercial, independently made film that is aimed at a niche audience, rather than a mass audience”
(Infact this link would provide you nice fodder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_film)
Going by this definition no art film can be commercial. Is it true?? I don’t know. On the other hand, commercial films can be very meaningful too. Take for instance RDB/Maqbool. To surmise art films will almost always be meaningful but commercial cinema may or may not be meaningful. I looked up Britannica and it said that a commercial film may also be lumped as an art film some years down the line. Weird !!
As for the directors you’ve mentioned, they are surely not commercial directors to me. Some people may call their films experimental..others art and still others plain socially relevant. Perhaps you could throw more light.
And yes.. that meaningless shit during school time did refresh my memory.. it still does. I still can’t live without my dose of “Airplane” or a “Scary Movie”. In the end I would just say that I’m not denying the power that a strong socially relevant movie has. It can topple govts, it can bring in new laws. But the world would be a very sad and too serious a place without these mindless flicks..
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last film - Rififi (Jules Dassin) 4/5
listening now - Wilco - Sky Blue sky (4.5/5)
reading now - the sundance kids
My movie tastes run to the obscure and pretentious, but there is a place for the dumbed-down and silly. Especially now that it is summer in California and I don’t have air-conditioning. When the days get hot, I like to escape to a cold theatre for a mainstream film, the more mindless the better. Art can be saved to watched on a cool, comfortable night at home.
The fact is, there is and should be room for all cinema, and if the latest hit isn’t to your taste, it is someone’s taste, and so be it.
What a horrible, monotonous world it were be if cinema were homogeneous. Cinema should be meaningful - it should open our eyes to the world outside of ours, to show us things about society and humanity and ourselves that we otherwise didn’t know existed or weren’t aware of.
But, it should also entertain. And, if sometimes that entertainment is silly, stupid, adolescent comedy, so be it.
You don’t deserve knives for your opinion, it is more balanced than most in pointing out that the world is a big place, and humans are complex creatures who can support a multitude of film genres…
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Last film watched: Stomp the Yard
Listening to: Weekend Edition (NPR)
Reading: You Can’t Go Home Again - Thomas Wolfe
Meaningful cinema is highly subjective. As subjective as distiniguishing between a 4/5 movie and a 5/5 movie. if we consider the “financial success” of a movie then all kinds of movies can never co-exist “for a neutral world as per Darwin’s theory”. I have hated Chopra/Johar movies all my life but untill few years ago I have realised that actually Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar deserve credit for making the product that sells in the market. They may not be artists but they are intelligent enough identifying the “need”. Just like “The Prestige”. Every mgic rick has three parts. Even if it is a real magic you have to present it as an illusionation for the reason people need to be fooled. Perhaps Johar/Chopras are absolutely unblamable.
On the other note, I have not found similar interests for the movies I like from any other “passionate” identity on this website either. but those sole interest movies live inside me as long as I will be in my senses. That is the reason there is something called as a “cult clan”.
I totally agree with Mr.Anurag and T!
…what misses with a normal film goer is the critical apprisal of the film.
He takes film just as a means of entertainment.be it in any form as long as its not deterimental to the values of the society.Since films on one hand have the strength to influence and educate people on the other it can be a source of mere entertainment.so lets not throw that directors stack in the Arabian,rather give efforts to shape the Indian cinema the way we visualize it for the future.
As Mr. Benegal said commercial success or failure does not determine a good cinema.
I feel in the future it ill be hard to draw a line between an art film and a commercial film.It’s just the matter of time.finally its a FILM and shall be respected as long as its good.Once people understand the difference between sensible and senseless cinema…..then we will see a wave of transformation….which already has started.
Realism is what the art cinema is about, this is what the contemporary cinema is adapting.
What we need today is more critical approach towards the profession. The existence of a bad or a senseless cinema in a way is good it helps us to understand what a good cinema should be.
@ KK - Don’t you think there is a place for “senseless” cinema? For dumb comedies and escapism. I, for one, find most of these types of films intolerable, because I want to see thinking films and art films and foreign films, etc…
But, my sister, she is a working mother. The last thing she wants when watching a film is something realistic or arty or weighty. She wants the latest Adam Sandler comedy or Harrison Ford thriller. Should her needs as a consumer be denied or belittled because she wants escapism on a Friday night?
Once upon a time I used to tease her about her pedestrian film-watching habits. But, one of the many lessons I have learned here on PFC is that all cinema is worthwhile, even if individual products may deserve ridicule…
well it is important that the quality of script should mantained.although, on the whole the cinema might not convey any message to the society it xould be an complete comedy flick, still the way the comedy is handled and carried over throughout the film is important.
I am know a few telugu directors/writers who are skilled in handling such scripts.
Jandhyala and lately Trivikram Srinivas.we have skilled poeple in hindhi cinema too.
Individual intereste should be respected at the same time quality is important.
sorry for the typo
Point taken, and you are very correct, sir.
A wise man once said, “Would you eat shite? If not, then why would watch something shite? It is not difficult to tell a difference between a stool and a, erm, what’s opposite of shite, ……..”
:-\”
Meaningful cinema will remains conspicuous even after decades.. well audience doesn’t care about these things..kids wanna jump like hirtik, couples inspired ‘y love n divorces… girls want to have hubby like sharukh.. :-j:-j meaningfool they get..main kal hoon na hoon..@};-..basically its not their job so no complain[-x
I think t! is absolutely right when she says that there are people who given a choice would rather opt for a meaningless escapist fear than treat themselves to a ‘Goddard or Truffaut”. Infact there are filmmakers who given a choice between the two kinds of cinemas would opt for the former. I refuse to believe that ‘Karan Johar’ or ‘Farrelly Bros’ don’t have the talent to make a dark, saidistic film like ‘Dancer in the Dark’. They do, and all the money in the world too!!! It’s just that the kind of cinema that they believe in is a bit different from ours..
Hey, isn’t there something between Goddard and Karan Johar? Don’t forget the simple story-telling by Iranian films.
If giving the “public” what they WANT is the ulimate in cinema — then go ahead and live on porn and bhajan-poojan kind of films — side-by-side both will serve two purposes -satisfy the “public’s” baser instincts as well as help them feel clean and sin-less.
Dear Aditi and Ajay…. If only you could close your eyes and get the bigger picture. It’s not about right or wrong. It’s not about giving the public what it wants.. porn would sell like hot cakes that way as you say… this is too short sighted a view.
It is just plain universal truth and a fact of life that a coin has to have two different sides. There can’t be all good and no evil, there can’t be all happiness and no pain and there can’t be all love and no hatred. A year back I would have said the same thing about the so called ‘bad cinema’ as you are right now. I am glad my perceptions changed. I hope yours too and you soon realise that we need both kinds of cinemas. They have got to co-exist. They always have. they always will. As Anurag said “to each his own.”
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“I refuse to fight battle of wits with unarmed opponents”
TO EACH HIS OWN is an escapist statemaent.we must confront the reality and try to understand the public psyche.recently i wrote a piece on it …. http://passionforcinema.com/kaun-hain-yeh-deewane-darshak/
it all depends on your point of view.aakhir tumahari politics kya hai partner?
Thanks Pankaj, appreciate your efforts to go on wikipedia etc.
“It is just plain universal truth and a fact of life that a coin has to have two different sides. There can
Yaar this is really simple… filmmakers, like any other industry, provide their consumers (audiences) with various options. Your choice on what you want to watch and what you don’t want to watch.
There’s no mob pushing people into theatres. No guy with a gun ever showed up at my door with a DVD sayin “Here. Watch it. I’ll wait”.
Everyones busy, so if you don’t find a film to be worth your time, leave it and do something else.
Just don’t be so ignorant as to think that if you don’t like a film it shouldn’t have been made.
The other day I went to my cousins place, he had a DVD on of “Keemat”. At first I was like “Oh yeah, Akshay/Saif back in the day. I haven’t seen this.. I was all excited… after a bit I was kinda bored… then I told him I had to go home… He actually called me up the next day to say I missed a great film and that I should come borrow the DVD from him… He loved the film so much he bought the DVD… here’s the kicker - I’m sure he’s not the only one out there who enjoyed it…
PS - I told him to come over, I was watching Bheja Fry (loved it… sooo funny! Esp the scene where Rajat Kapoor’s tryin to order Pizza… LOL!) He was like “No yaar, I saw a bit of that and I fell asleep…” Alright.
Every film has its audience, whether its big or small.
PS - My wife rented the DVD for Kya Love Story Hai… I’ve been avoiding it for 4 days… Not sure how to get out of it tonight… will update you if I survive…
thats the beauty of cinema…it means differnt things to differnt people. i also dont understand the word meaningful…i even dont understnd the word entertainment. for me the rite word is “engage”ment…it should engage me for 2/4/24 hours as long as the movie goes on. happy/sad or whatever i feel but i want to be with those charcters till the director says ‘the end’.