TZP & JTYJN: Overhyped ‘yes’,great movies ‘No’
iView Author: A. Singh
(Fremont, CA, USA)
Email: Witheld
TZP and JTYJN: Overhyped ‘yes’,great movies ‘No’
Bollywood hype machine has got smarter and slicker in last 3-4 years. The quality of the movies hasn’t improved a whole lot but the ability to market and hype average fares to present them classics has certainly gone up.
Otherwise, how else you explain the great commercial and critical success of 2 Amir Khan movies – Tare Zameen Par and Jane Tu Ya Jane Na or whatever, the second produced by him. Let me concede up front that both were well presented and were better than the run of the mill stuff thrown at us every week. But that doesn’t make them classics and Amir Khan the genious. Come on people, what’s wrong with you?
First TZP, it has a wafer thin plot, a very convenient end to an issue made out to be bigger than what it is in real life. Most dyslexia kids do alright in life, given the examples the movie itself quotes- Tom Cruise. Abhishek Bachchan. The later, I might guess might have been wrongly detected as dyslexic. I hazard the guess that he has some other mental problem that still continues and has gone worse after he got married to a Aishwarya.
Anyway coming back to TZP, it was heavily promoted by Amir Khan, including his attacks on ‘Black, another overhyped, totally nonsensical, height or arrogance (read Mr. Bachchan and SLB gush about the movie hundreds of time, it’s obnoxious) bad movie. All the controversy around Amol Gupte helped generate hype around the movie. Added to that the fact that the self styled genious himself was directing the movie, everybody just exclaimed “Classic”. May I dare say today, it was a very average film worth may be one watch, terribly slow in some parts, a very convenient end. Why in the world, all the teachers shown as caricatures, except one Mr. Cool called Nikumbh sir? Are all boarding schools torture chambers where students are sent to punish them for their misbehaviour?
I do admit some of the things shown were nice and smart. For example, the way child psychology was presented and the insight given into Darsheel’s mind were nice. But after few reels, you realize they were overdone and over used, the drawings in particular.
And the kid actors were well handled, particulary Darsheel. But this is not the first time somebody has done it in Bollywood. Please don’t forget Jugal Hansraj in Masoom or Kunal Khemu and others in Hum Hain Rahi Pyar ke.
Another reason, I feel cheated was because it was recommended as a must watch for kids and parents alike. By any measure, it’s not a movie for kids. My 8 year old was yawning half way through the movie. It was too slow and unfunny for kids. For parents, other than that one scene where Amir lectures to the parents, I am not sure what else was there.
And before you all TZP fans out there, get agitated at me, please, I have conceded that it was well presented and better than run of the mill. I would also give you that the technical aspects were good. It was also more watchable than Black which was insufferable. But please don’t insult classics by calling it a classic.
I would consider Amir Khan smart and business savvy for marketing the movie and making it a big commercial success. But creative genious, please No!
And now JTYJN, the other classic; I had heard that Abbas Tyrewalla is a genious and the best screenplay writer in Bollywood Today. Really? And this is what he comes with as his debut movie. I have to pity him and us as the bollywood audience that a capable writer like him has to resort to a crappy teeny bopper, so stupid it hearts kind of movie to make his directorial debut. And before you jump, I have nothing aginst teeny bopper movies, have enjoyed QSQT when it came out and Socha Na Tha recently. But what are you presenting? What life style are you showing? Which world these people live in? They are not yet 20 and drive fancy cars and their parents ass them to get married. I am sorry, I thought Bal Vivah is a problem in lower strata of the society. Again, I have nothing against basing your story on super rich urban crowd, but the characters have to be believable. I like Dil Chahta Hai a lot for that matter. But this movie defied logic. The most irritating character was Ganelia herself. Why was she made to be so irritating and trying to look so forciblly cute? In her attempt to look cute, she almost looks retarded in some scene, kind of like what happended to Hrithik in Main Prem Ki Diwai Hun.
Again, I would admit some positives, the Khan brothers, the Rathore angle, Naseer and Ratna Pathak shah angle. But the negatives are too many, why the parents are show so rich? What do they do, apart from parting? Why Ganelia’s brother (Prateek Babbar who looks very promising) acts like a cartoon? Just because his dad or uncle didn’t produce the movie? What a pity?
The kids or are they grown ups, not sure, seem to have no problem except boy friend/girl friend problem, in the movie. This movie is supposedly doing great business and called super, super/duper hits by Pandits like Mr. Adarsh. You can clearly see the bias there and compromised self interest but what about PFC. I though PFC with it’s community of fearless, independent writers, exposes everything and sorts out good from band and does doodh ka doodh, pani ka pani. Has PFC softened up? Was it nice to this movie because of Abbas being the director. I hope not.
I know I risking a lot of brick bats through this post, but would welcome your comments, good and BAD.
A. Singh
Tags: aamir khan, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Taare Zameen Par
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 find your post awfully opinionated and biased. It seems more like a product of personal hatred than serious criticism.
Cinema is subjective and You can’t proclaim Your opinion to be that of all. While no body is remotely suggesting that TZP or JTYJN were Classics or even great movie, both were eminently watchful and enjoyable. The scenes which You find slow in TZP, might also be the most cherished ones to many. Infact in the first half, seeing Darsheel, I was reminded of Ray’s Pather Pachali at times. I don’t think Kunal Khemu or anybody did a Darshil ever. It’s funny to note that people could find Ganellia irritating. But You see, it’s all subjective, don’t play the God
Well Mr Singh,
I seem that somewhere down the line ur justified when u say that these movies were not classics…but at the same time we need to remember that these movies are atleast better than the run of the mill stuff that is churned out nowadays….
Atleast Mr. Khan does not make movies which insult the intelligence of movie going audiences like us which are being turned out with amazing regularity nowadays….
I still think that Aamir did a decent job with TZP and made a movie that did higlight the issue if dyslexia pretty well and at the same time Abbas showed the result of simple screenwriting with some believable characters that we encounter in real life with JTYJN…..
So i think that u do not need to be so critical of these 2 movies….Yes, they are overhyped but they do provide us sensible entertainment at the end of the day and not some bull shit stuff shown in other movies….
I wud say Mr. Singh that u cud just try to be a little more tolerant of such movies…
In a industry where 99% movies are full of crap, movies such as TZP, JTYJN, No smoking, etc need to be hyped. And what’s wrong with smart marketing? I believe TZP was a path-breaking movie where-in a documentary type story was a commercial success.
I dont know if you have ever liked any movie in ur life or not?I am sure you can write a bigger post for shortcomings in Sholay, mugle azam and DDLJ. Why gabbar is never shown to have a shed to live under?Where did he live in rainy season?Why is Thakur not wearning sleeveless kurta when he has no arms? Can someone leave all his business and establishments in London to fly back to India just because his daughter fell in love with someone?How can simran hear a music coming from so tiny a volin in a distant farm??
Friend, all these movies are stupid and hyped. Only you have logic. Pardon me for liking TZP and JTYJN. I beg for it.
@Subhash Agarwal,
people on PFC never fail to mention greatness of No Smoking whenever they get a chance. I could not understand its greatness(nor could I like the movie) by watching it. Can you pls direct me to any other site or cinema forum where people have liked NS. May be I will be able to understand in their words, as I fail to understand in the language used here.
“Bollywood hype machine has got smarter and slicker in last 3-4 years. The quality of the movies hasn’t improved a whole lot but the ability to market and hype average fares to present them classics has certainly gone up.”
i wonder what your opinions are on the hollywood hype machines.
“First TZP, it has a wafer thin plot, a very convenient end to an issue made out to be bigger than what it is in real life.”
really?
“I hazard the guess that he has some other mental problem that still continues and has gone worse after he got married to a Aishwarya.”
it should be none of our business to comment on their personal choices and life.
“‘Black, another overhyped, totally nonsensical, height or arrogance (read Mr. Bachchan and SLB gush about the movie hundreds of time, it’s obnoxious) bad movie”
i wonder which was the last bollywood commercial film whcih you liked? was it made in this decade?
i lost interest in reading whatever is written after this, so cant comment.
What is reinforced by this post and the replies to it is that tastes differ and that there are movies out there that leave some cold and disappointed when others are moved and impressed.
World Cinema is rather like World cuisine – some types are refined, some substantial and some rustic. You may find takers for all three and others besides, whilst there are those who will not waiver from the one they were born into.
If you enjoy cinema and want to experience different styles, different genres and can appreciate different cultural sensibilities than an appropriate mind set has to be employed for each type of encounter.
I am not being patronizing but when I watch a TZP, Manorama, Being Cyrus, Eek Hasina The, Mr and Mrs Iyer etc, I think they are brilliant films, but, only in context to the usual rubbish churned out by Bollywood. People slammed LCMD because of it’s regressive and oft repeated theme but I only saw fantastic acting by the three female leads. And by the way when has Prostitution been regressive- it is alive and kicking from Land’s End to Timbuktu.
Whilst we may not like viewing choices ( I hate movies like SIK, Welcome, Partner etc), it is the right of people to decide what they want to watch or not. Having said that, if we are disappointed in the movies that are being made, the people to blame are the audience and not the makers. After all if people had not watched Partner or Bhagam Bhag then in all probability a Welcome or SIK would not have been made!
You are bang on target….Alysha…!
Well, well well! It seems I touched some raw nerves there. I accept it all, and good to know that you all liked these two movies. May be that’s why there were such big hits!
As for me, I did watch them, it was better than just tolerating them, there were moments I liked, but couldn’t get myself ready for a second viewing.
Abhishek, your comments abour Sholay, DDLJ are really interesting :-) May be I didn’t care about those points because I was so busy enjoying the movie. May be TZP and JtYJN didn’t work for me as an audiance, but did for you. That’s entirely possible.
My problem is with over hyping and over marketing. Most movies that have good content also need to be well marketed and no issues with that. But when crap like Hey Baby becomes a hit purely based on marketing, why should we blame Sajid Khan when he starts believing that he made one of the all time best movies.
Again, TZP and J.. were decent movies but didn’t deserve the amount of praise they received. That’s all.
Mr Singh you are fully entititled to your opinions about whether you think TZP or JTYJN are good films or not. That is your prerogative but you really come across as hugely ignorant and deluded when you say that dyslexia isn’t a big deal. I suggest you to talk to someone who suffers from it and ask them if its a big deal or not.
@Munis Syed
Common … Have you made a movie before your arrogant comment ,if not pray why does Mr Singh need to ?
And from when does one need to make a movie to comment on another movie
@Mr Singh
Who decides that the amount of praise received by a movie is deserved or hyped.Would not marketing be a good reason to say it deserved the praise.
Well well well, I think Mr.Singh has created a furor amongst the lovers of TZP and JTYJN here.
Firstly I must say to a great extent I agree with Mr.Singh here. I too dont think TZP and JTYJN are classics. Ofcourse TZP was way better than JTYJN in my view, but definitely not a classic.
Secondly I disagree let me say absolutely disagree with your views on Black and Dyslexia.
Thirdly and lastly , I do agree with the people who responded that No Smoking as well as Black in that case had a little arrogance within their style of making, and it was not targeted towards an average movie watching. If it was, it grossly missed that target audience.
You can read my review of Taare Zameen Par on :
http://jkpcblogs.blogspot.com/2008/01/taare-zameen-par-every-director-is.html
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so the article is all good in that way. But if nit picking is the reason to write, then I’d say hey how about spell check before you submit an article, but then that would take away from your overall point of your writing.
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what dyslexics need is a healthy dose of spanking and I will add thanks to the good old Indian spanking some of these dyslexics have become successful bullshit artists and have started PFC ;)
Sir, if you didnt like the movies, fine. Say that. I find it extremely presumptous for you to be passing comments on what people in general should like or should not like as well as how much publicity or marketing is good for a film. Isn’t that best left to the producer and others involved in the film to decide?
What is this “over hype” at the end of the day? If the producer ensures a high amount of visibility for the movie, it is overhype? If many people have liked the movie and praised it, it becomes overhype? And who decides whether someone should like and praise a movie or not? Why do you assume that everyone has the same motives as you when they go to watch a movie?
So, while you are free to make your own call on these things some decency to respect others’ intelligence and refrain from lecturing.
Hi Mr. A. Singh,
I am not a regular on PFC but I do visit this site just because I am big big movie buff and I think that I find most of the thing written here are very close to what I personnaly think of the movies being made….
This is the first time, may be, that I have read such lacerating Critism of TZP and that too, on PFC, which I thought was a platform where I would always get to read sensible critism, but in ur case… I m disappointed… Very much…
TZP has every right to be called a Classic…I dunno abt ur marital or mental status but all I can say is that I am 24 years old and UNMARRIED(that implies that I am still not a father).. But Phir bhi, Jab main movie dekh raha tha, I could very much empathise with the Parents whose children are dyslexic or are suffering from any other disorder …
Maana ki rationally sochna achchi cheej hai par kabhi kabhi har cheej me logic dhoondana bevkoofi hoti hai …
Aapne kahaa ki – “For parents, other than that one scene where Amir lectures to the parents, I am not sure what else was there” —Aapko kya har baat tabhi samajh mein aati hai jab koi aapko baith ke lecture deke samjhaye …
Aapko tab samjh nahi aayi ye baat jab Darsheel chhat pe jaake rota hai .. Jab wo shower ke neeche khada hoke rota hai .. jab wo subah subah akele KHUD APNE BAAL BANAA KE nadi kinaare jaata hai …jab wo apne papa ko kehta hai ki “Papa mat jaao, next time aisa nahi hoga …”, jab wo akela shehar me ghoomne nikal padta hai …
Ye sab wo scenes hai jinko dekh ke baat samajh aa jaani chahiye thi jo Aamir khan samjhan achahte the …
In scenes pe bhi agar aapki aankhein na bheegi to phir agli line mein jo 4 words likhe hai, wo aapke liye hi hai …
CALLOUS,Impervious,insensitive aur dumb .. jinko har baat sirf ‘copy-pen’ aur lectures se hi samajh aati hai .. maybe u fall into that category …(Mujhe maaf kijiyega par this is exactly what I felt abt u after reading ur post)
“Black was INSUFFERABLE” – How could anyone say that … Mujhe lagta hai ki this film is the best of Amitabh Bachchan till date… and Rani’s too…
JTYJN ke liye jo bhi likha .. I agree to some extent but then It was the finest movie of this year …Better than the bloody,shitty and ghatiya SIKs and Bachna ae Hasinos …
It wasn’t a classic but it was enjoyable, witty, crisp and fun to watch…
U said – “My problem is with over hyping and over marketing.” – Yaar, agle ka paisa hai, uski marji wo kitna bhi kharch kare promotion pe .. India ki janta Chu*** hai to isme naa aapki koi galti hai aur na meri… Ye hota tha, hai aur rahega … Why u burning ur blood free of cost (Kyu apna khoon jalaa rahe ho fokat mein …)
Aapko nahi dekhni movie, mat dekho .. ghar pe baitho .. PFC pe achchi filmo ki ass maaro … Timepass to ho hi jayega …
Not every one is as blessed as u are with cinematic sensitivity and acumen … Some movies are made for the average cinegoer, jo 3 ghante sirf hansne jaata hai, logic dhoondne nahi… Unko jeene do yaar …
P.S. – I never wrote such a big comment for any of the post on any of the sites. Its just that TZP(and Black too) was very close to my heart that I wrote this.
I am from the film business and was quite into pfc. but recently most posts on pfc sound like they are written by loser wankers who have done nothing in life themselves.
They just love to crib and pull everyone down.
I suggest that before anyone posts, put a short intro about who they are and what makes them competent enougn to comment.
Else…Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.
TZP is one of the best films of the last decade.Or maybe one the best hindi films on children ever!!!How many hindi child “classics” have you seen?Have you seen Boot polish,Jagriti?…I think you dont even know their names…What according to you should be a classic?Om Shanti Om maybe…Aamir Khan is 100 times better than the rest of the actors who only do films to project their image.Tell me which other superstar in his prime will make a film where the lead role is played by a child and he makes appearence in the second half?Nobody, right from Dilipkumar to Amitabh,from Raj Kapoor to Dharmendra noone had the guts in thier haydays to do this.
Mr. Singh, what you have written about marketing and the necessity for film-makers to generate enough hype to ensure a strong opening for a film is to an extent true. JTYJN is a good example of this as you’ve already pointed out.
When I came out the movie hall after watching this film, all I could think about was the film Socha na tha. I just felt that if Imtiaz Ali and his team had promoted the film more strongly it wouldn’t have bombed even though it’s a superb movie. (Somewhat ironical that in both these films, the female leads are named Aditi)
Even now when ever I come across anybody who has seen SNT, I haven’t got any -ve reaction for this film but many people didn’t like JTYJN and yet its been touted as the biggest hit of the year and Imran Khan as the next best thing to happen to Bollywood. Please…it’s so evident that he tries to imitate his uncle. It was an Aamir Khan ride all along – Abbas T and gang just were taken along.
The only casting coup for the director was to get some wonderful actors as parents of the leads – Jayant Kriplani, Anuradha Patel , Kitu Gidwani ( both as beautiful as ever), Ratna PS, Naseer Shah, Rajit Kapur. Gosh! Treat to see them all on them all in one film. Their roles as parents were quite ‘different’ than the usual parental stereotypes that Hindi films come up with.
These were the only +ves of the film for me. No great shakes about the rest. If the film hadn’t been gift wrapped and presented to the audience the way it has been it would have just @ had a low to average biz for sure. Hardly would have got any notice. This is where SNT stumbled at the BO.
Btw, Mr. Singh, the criticisms for TZM were really harsh. The film portrayed the ignorance about dyslexia among middle class parents in India so well. The pressure to perform and not understanding that there could be a problem with the child was depicted very well . Dyslexia isn’t grave or life-threatening but the struggles that a dyslexic kid has to go through because of this (aggravated by societal ignorance) is indeed dangerous for the mental health of the kid. TZM could touch upon this aspect very well.
@ sajjad – Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.
Behatareen … LOLzzzzz
Seems like some of the Rediff crowd is percolating down to PFC ,mods please take note…..
I think commenting in PFC should be restricted to registered members ,somewhat on the lines of cricinfo.com to prevent this from going the rediff way ,also there should be a report abuse button.
As far as the articles are concerned the quality is going down day by day ,this article is pure rant without any insight or analysis .
I second Sajjad ,only experienced people should blog on this forum ,and articles by novices should be put under an amateur section.
Dear alysa ,
seems u failed to apply ur own theory(appropriate mind set has to be employed for each type of encounter.) when u watched welcome,sik,partner or bhagam bhag….
U r no one to say that movies like sik,partner should not be made….it is because of profits earned by these movies
films like ek haseena the,jhonny gaddar and no smoking are made….well if u were so amazed by the performance of the three leading ladies in LCMD then many felt that akshay rocked big time in SIK and nana& anil were fantastic in welcome….
u urself are being bias so u cannot comment on anyone else.
Well said there. Overhyped is the word, not saying the movies are bad but they are not that great, the way people and critics have been raving about them.
Same goes for Lagaan or Black, they were not great movies either. I can never get my head around the over hype that surrounded Lagaan, maybe it has to do with Aamir and his huge fan following and the marketing strategies used. It was just a cricket match (desi version of “bodyline”).
The way these films are being talked about are as if they are some kind of path breaking cinemas. Maybe TZP is at some level (maybe??) but certainly not JTYJN. JTYJN is definitely just another college flick representing a very very small section of Indian college life … put some good looking people with slick (clothing designer did a great job, I must say, without going over the top) designer clothes and make them look like classy rich teenagers and put in lot of moolah in marketing and then call it an excellent movie. Sorry, the movie is a good entertainer but not above average.
Audience are a real sucker for all this and no matter what my opinions are such thing will continue to work, which is very sad indeed!
Yes topaz, I am biased, but I don’t write articles propagating any particular type of cinema. Nor do I criticise any particular film-maker or producers for the films they make.
Even if I do criticise or praise certain films it is purely as a viewer and not as a critic. That is my right and it is your right and everybody else to like Akshay Kumar and films like SIK and Bhagam Bhag. Like I said in my earlier comment, it is the audience I blame for the infantile films which find wide patronage but I am not for one minute saying don’t watch them. I don’t like them. You might find them entertaining but moronic humour is not my cup of tea or to use my own analogy “my dish”.
You too can criticise LCMD or any other film you don’t like, that is your prerogative.
Finally I’d like to know how the success of films like SIK helps in the making of the films I and then you mentioned? Do the producers go up to those directors and say “hey how about you make a sensible film now that I’ve made tons of money from my puerile last film”?
Yes the success of films like SIK, OSO, Welcome etc may keep a lot of lowly paid staff with work – but that’s about it I think…and oh and they may also fill the tax department’s coffers with a bundle or two as well! The rest is pure profit for the producers.
this is the most bull shit article on pfc……
“First TZP, it has a wafer thin plot, a very convenient end to an issue made out to be bigger than what it is in real life. Most dyslexia kids do alright in life, given the examples the movie itself quotes- Tom Cruise. Abhishek Bachchan. The later, I might guess might have been wrongly detected as dyslexic. I hazard the guess that he has some other mental problem that still continues and has gone worse after he got married to a Aishwarya.”
u write this nonsense and no u are not getting brickbats because u criticized TZP or JTYJN but the way u criticize it..
there are people out there who think in the same lines along u about dyslexia thats what makes TZP a blessing cause it has atleast made people aware….
a very juvenile assumption on ur part that the issue is bigger than it is made out to be….
and ur comment about abhishek’s mental problem is in bad taste…someone said rightly that u seem to be one of those guys who are regulars at rediff discussion board….
read playback’s review of TZP. Things will get clearer for about criticism…
alysa,
money made out of films which are monstrous hits give distributors and exhibitors padding to absorb losses accrued due to screening of films like no smoking,jhonny gaddar,etc……
and due you think that makers like vipul shah, sajid khan are dumb and they don’t have cinema’s knowledge…these guys are ten times more knowledgable then most of the so called critics
Alysa,
u have taken my remark to ur heart but its common sense that
money made out of films which are huge hits give distributors and exhibitors padding to absorb losses accrued due to screening of films like no smoking,jhonny gaddar,etc……Mine again and again naming NS and JG does not mean that i did not like them infact there are very few movies which i cannot tolerate….
ultimately a PVR OR ADLABS were not opened to run films which stimulate some so called intellectuals and leave their balance sheets in red….
they exist to make money and they will grab those film only which rake moolah….
u will see same thing happenning this weekend when only 2 or 3 shows of Mumbai Meri Jaan will be screened in comparison to 8-10 shows of SIK and BAH….
Its pure economics dear.
Get well soon Mamoo. ;-)
While I agree with the author’s view of TZP, JTYJN and Black, the point could have been made without statements like
“Most dyslexia kids do alright in life, given the examples the movie itself quotes- Tom Cruise. Abhishek Bachchan. The later, I might guess might have been wrongly detected as dyslexic. I hazard the guess that he has some other mental problem that still continues and has gone worse after he got married to a Aishwarya.”
That dig was completely un-necessary to get your point across. How do you guess at someone not being dyslexic? Mental problem? Because he married someone you obviously hate? What kind of childish response is this? You make these immature digs and then we are supposed to take your commentary serious.
The quality of postings on PFC has been sliding downhill for a while and the SIK ravings recently proved it.
Finally, please do not send TZP as India’s entry to the Oscar. This movie that comes across like a Lifetime movie of the week will be laughed at by the academy.
@Carol- completely agree with you. Thank God there are still sensible people around.
@Jahan
“you have no business being here. Just get lost. Seriously, man people like you disgust me- what’s your problem? ”
why the personal attack man…..be objective……seriously ……it seems most of the people here do not have any idea of arguments or debate ,at the first instance people like to go daggers at each other.
I want to address a couple of comments here.
The first is Sajjid’s comment.
“I am from the film business and was quite into pfc. but recently most posts on pfc sound like they are written by loser wankers who have done nothing in life themselves. They just love to crib and pull everyone down. I suggest that before anyone posts, put a short intro about who they are and what makes them competent enougn to comment.”
Your suggestion will not work on this platform. PFC was founded with the belief that anyone who is passionate about cinema can have a platform to write, and the addition of the iView section allows even those who aren’t regular contributors of PFC to submit their thoughts.
Mr Singh had the guts to submit a post, we published it, and if you don’t like it you can comment why you disagree, comment on why it is wrong, or submit a post via iView rebutting the post.
What shouldn’t be done is attack someone for their opinion. PFC has always allowed its writers and submitters to publish what they would like, and many times the bulk of the PFC contributers do not agree with the opinions or reviews posted. That is why this site works so well, there is a wide range of opinion and discussion, an exchange of ideas.
In the future, I will ask all of you to refrain from attacking the posters, doing so is cheap and petty.
Comment on what is wrong with the article. Else, as was mentioned earlier, Rediff may be more your style.
To Vineet’s comment, “…only experienced people should blog on this forum ,and articles by novices should be put under an amateur section”.
That would kill PFC. The whole spirit here is to give voice to those who aren’t professionals, to those who are passionate.
To both Sajjid, Vineet, and any one else who feels that the quality of posts on PFC is lacking, I invite you to submit your own articles via iView. Especially Sajjid and Vineet. Sajjid because you state you work in the industry, and even if you are a spotboy this audience is interested in your experiences. Vineet because you are a regular commenter and have a lot to add. This is not a challenge, but an invitation to all of you as people who love to watch films and to read about them…
And, please, read every comment Alysha has left on PFC, and read Carol’s above comment. It is entirely possible to write an intelligent comment on a post you disagree with without resorting to foul language, name calling, and attacking other people. There are other websites where that is acceptable. PFC does not want to become one of those sites.
Mr. Singh,
Read this blog on tzp, you’ll probably understand why it is a classic. Btw even I felt a d'©j' vu of watching pather panchali in the first half of tzp. Here’s the blog www.termsofendearment.blogspot.com
Thank you all for all the comments! I welcome it all, good and bad, except profanity and some personal attacks. But that’ for the mods to worry about. Besides, I have been guilt about a bit too with a personal remark about Abhishek Bachchan. But that was only to inject some humor :-), don’t we all act a bit mentally unstable when we get married, I know I did :-)
Thanks again for the lively discussion, let’s move on to other interesting articles on PFC.
Ready for Peace !!
P.S.: The spelling mistakes are unforgivable. I agree. Guilty as charged.
TZP is definitely over-hyped. Its a watchable film ( apart from aamir khan’s occasional lectures), better than other trashes of bollywood. But no, its NOT a classic. There has been plenty of discussion on TZP in PFC, and I think its high time we should stop this regurgitation.
@t!
will try and submit something ,but I guess it will take time ,currently buried under a load of work ,don ‘t just wanna send something ,will try and research my article before I send it here complete with references.
I understand your idea of making this forum democratic but the point is that for the sake of popularity you must not compromise quality ,that’s what everyone here talks about right ? that we are sacrificing quality movies for the sake of popular ones ,if PFC does indeed stand for that idea then it should follow it in journalistic terms as well.
agree with the writer – both movies were over hyped. Personally, enjoyed JTNJN but hated TZP…
I guess the fact that these movies are so highly rated as great is because of the crap that surrounds them.
We have, to put it bluntly, miles to go…..
Agree with the A.Singh. Also can identify with the feeling why the article was written. Even i have heard people praise a good movie so high that when you see it, you wonder why they were hyping the film so much. (Recent example: The dark Knight which broke spiderman’s records) TZP was a good movie but certainly not a great film as it made out to be.
I have to write this: Ram shankr Nikumbh gives examples of so many dyslexics who became successful in the classroom but ‘forgets’ to convince the child’s parents that the child could become like him (art teacher) bcz even the he himself had or has the same problem. I thought that was not good screenplay writing.
Whether or not TZP is a classic is something that yet to be seen. A Classic has to be timeless. If after a few more years, someone who revists this movie gets as excited as he got today, then alone it should be called a Classic. So, people who have liked it today, must get ready to watch it again after a few more years before you start calling it a Classic.
Even I felt that TZP was a bit childish and preachy at so many places. But, I was happy that the movie was made, and I was glad that I watched it.
@Jahan
“@Carol – completely agree with you. Thank God there are still sensible people around.”
Very Nice. So, whether someone is sensible or not depends on whether he/she agrees or disagrees with your thinking?
@Sarah
“Sorry, the movie is a good entertainer but not above average.”
Can you start by defining the “average”?
“Audience are a real sucker for all this and no matter what my opinions are such thing will continue to work, which is very sad indeed!”
Maybe these “suckers” like such stuff … is that a crime?
@ Vineet
” understand your idea of making this forum democratic but the point is that for the sake of popularity you must not compromise quality ,that’s what everyone here talks about right ? that we are sacrificing quality movies for the sake of popular ones ,if PFC does indeed stand for that idea then it should follow it in journalistic terms as well.”
We discuss about movies and thats it..Why aspire to be a journalist here.The quality will vary according to the people who make the effort to send posts.Quality varies with people and their perceptions and the prejudices they harbour.Its all relative.You may not like a post I like.
JTYJN:Is a fresh movie in parts and hence clicked.
TZP:Is touching at moments and is a decent effort.A lot of research has gone into it.
These movies are good commercial efforts.Some breather they bring into stale cinema at present.Agreed they are not the best.
Very good points kic no.45 and 46..very valid points..who decides whats average and whats not..if you like it praise it ..if you dont like it pan it..but lets put numbers and levels to our likings.We all have penchant for numbers..to validate our points..”I give this movie 2 out of 5 stars”/”This movie above average” .
This platform gives you the breathing space to give opinions and share..however diametrically opposite.
@Kic: Sorry, I got carried away. No it doesn’t depend on whether a person agrees with me or not. But frankly, you tell me man, my simple point is why unnecessarily come here, read stuff and write abrasive, abusive and meaninlessly offensive comments if you think we are a bunch of biased people who blindly worship a filmmaker without any objectivity with respect to his films or cinema in general? If you don’t like PFC, don’t read it!
I’d like to sincerely apologize for my earlier comment which was perhaps too harshly worded.
Take care everyone- and keep the passion alive.
@Sourav
first of all any open democratic forum comes under journalistic preview however informal you may want to keep it secondly individual perception is not the sole criterion for judging the quality of an article. It’s like judging the quality of a movie by it’s box office collections .
A good article must have insight ,must discuss something innovative ,bring up issues or at least be entertaining and must have some original content.
I don’t think the current one qualifies in any of the afore mentioned categories (you may add some more if you so please but I don’t think pure spite and rant would count amongst it) ,the tone of the article is also important ,objectivity is paramount and when the author presumes a disdainful tone then this gets lost.
@Jahan
A healthy dose of criticism is necessary to keep any forum alive ,if someone accuses this forum of being a personal bastion of AK then you should counter that with arguments instead of trampling dissent by calling for expulsion ,that way you are making this forum more undemocratic and vindicating the stand that this forum is dominated by AK’s supporters who refuse to see reason when it comes to the criticism of their hero.
@Vineet: I assume that you have set parameter when it comes to reading a post..a post may not be treatise or a critique.Humans are not very objective in nature ..had we been objective we would have been saints.
Posts are a reflection of a person thoughts for that matter train of thoughts..especially with respect to this domain.Blogging is not journalism.Blooging should be a mirror of expectations.PFC has a healthy mix of various thoughts and ideologies pur in words..thats how the posts come up.
If you consider blogging a subset of jounalism then we are not in the same line of discussion.
**Blogging should be you..the way you think..(typo in the earlier post)
PFC is NOT a bastion of AK supporter..Why do you think that way?
@Sourav
For me a post on PFC is not just a blog ,you aren’t just writing about your personal life or your daily chores ,you are commenting on something ,expressing your views on some matter (in this case cinema).
and hence it is your duty to do some research and present some insight rather than just write what you think.Maybe I am from the old school and maybe we will never agree on this.
say for example I have never been to the north-east and have never seen the problems on the ground and I decide to write on the insurgency in north-east in a newspaper or a site which is read by thousands of people from whatever I have gauged by seeing stuff in the TV and casually reading in books.
Do you think that would be the right thing to do ? shouldn’t it be my duty to do some original research and thinking before I start writing in such a place…….
Maybe the example doesn’t accurately represent the situation here because writing on films is a lot less serious than writing on insurgencies ,but the tone of the article sure does reflect the mind of the author.
For me writing carries a lot of weight and responsibility ,a newspaper is judged by the seriousness and insightfulness of it’s articles and news items ,and if PFC doesn’t wanna degrade into a Rediff which at this rate it surely will it needs to improve the quality of posts here, which can be done by more rigorous selection.
Let me also state what I like about PFC now which includes oz’s and subrat’s posts which are thorough entertainment ,Rk’s insightful takes on old movies ,and occassional brilliant articles ,one I remember was a well researched article about Satyajit Ray but only attracted 15 comments.
I don’t think PFC is AK’s bastion ,since I believe that AK doesn’t own this place and PFC guys think and write on their own but he sure does command a loyal following here because
of three reasons:
1.The unusually high percentage of posts dedicated to AK compared to the overall number of posts .
2.The lack of criticism of AK’s films by PFC members.(I understand that many people like his film ,but the fact that not even one dislikes them is unusual).
3.The defence PFC people put up when someone criticizes AK’s films ,calling em in some cases “chutiyas”.
Vineet and others,
negative reviews for AK’s films …….PFC is the only place where Black friday received “Not-so-brilliant” reviews :
http://passionforcinema.com/black-friday-reverse-engineering/
http://passionforcinema.com/black-fridays-brilliance-over-hyped/
http://passionforcinema.com/no-smoking-shut-up-and-work-or-what-not-to-do/
@Vineet,
Its admirable that you are such an alert part of PFC and wants to see the best things here. To bring best is always the effort but I disagree somehow with your comments 23 and 24.
and this disagreement is not personally with you but its a general comment, because such case come across frequently.
There are always various levels of understanding (regarding the cinema and films)among different audiences. You see professional critics write articles and reviews about films bit differently because their motives are different. Their motive is not necessarily to educate the audiences. They give expert views and they sometimes dont care for audiences and so many times they are biased. Before internet, audience’s reaction meant = BOx Office results and if a film was good or bad it was not known by the quality of the film but by the commercial success of the films. There were some ( but very few in number) articles prasing good films but general audience did not always read those articles and very very good films remained away from masses. Internet and PFC like forums give space to ordinary audience to express his/her views. What a person really knows and thinks about a film or films, is expressed on PFC and net based blogs etc.
Now first time in the history of cinema, directors may (if they have this art of remaining detached with the films after its release and want to improve further) read something what is really helpful for them. A completely self absorbed director may know what a very ordinary audience saw in his film and what he could not get and why so called intellectual audiences are praising or criticising in his or others films. This opinion of ordinary audience was not available before. A Mani Kaul did not make films for ordinary audience but todays versions of Shyam Benegals and Govind Nihalanis certainly can bring a balance by knowing the growth of present time’s audiences.
They can educate them now.
But when you go out to educate anyone then you take care of his/her own views also because that is his own level of understanding. Unless you know that you can not teach a person. There is no bravery in teaching a student capable to top the IITji’s JEE because he has got that developed state of mind that he can do on his own or with little help from teachers. Bravery is to make understand the last student sitting on last bench, if he understands your lecture on Schr'¶dinger equation then you are a good teacher else you are thriving on the already successful people’s success.
If that student has come there after passing the entrance examination but he is failed in your class then you are also failed as a teacher. He had something in him but you could not help him growing further.
No Soceity is made by only brilliant people, and ordinary people also live there and they are also essential part of social- economic and political growth of a society and they can not be trashed always and their opinions can not be trashed always.
Brilliant and ordinary can exist together. Conflict of their ideas bring something viable for all.
For a moment, under the love for own thinking and thoughts, people may deny to accept others views but it can not be said that they dont modify their thoughts.
An ordinary audience may not understand film as director of that film understands or a top quality critic can understand but this ordinary audience has made some opinion after first watching. He may express his these first views and chances are that by having others opinions on his opinion may force him to modify his views and he is educated enough to understand qualities of same film which he could not find because he was not having that knowledge before.
We can see that readers rag everybody here. whenever they dont agree with views, language used to describe those views or sometimes on the mere selection of the subjects. This conflict is not harmful in any manner (till it does not take nature of personal attack).
Writing has become very personal thing nowadays. People of a country are living everywhere in the world and old days adda or chaupal and personal meetings have taken new places on net and here they have to interact through their writings. Did we care for grammar, or way of saying or pronunciation etc when we interacted in a group sitting in canteen of our campuses etc? No never, we enjoyed those discussions. Sometimes discussions faced heat also but in the end everything is fine.
Many kind of people are writing on net and we have whole lot of variety and can select what appeals to us. Everybody can decide its level and section. Do we personally attack someone when talking in person? No mostly we dont do it and we have to understand blog like new entity’s connection with that old discussions done among friends, known and sometimes unknown people.
Those who know less also speak sometime.
and most of the people follow this rule that they dont criticise harshly very first attempt in any field. New admission in any group always can be under different kind of pressures. he can have different notions about the group he is entering and he can have sometimes motives and personal anger also.
But people do change after some days when consider responses of many people.
If only skilled people will be allowed to write or express their opinion on a subject than growth will be limited and new people will not learn more.
This is very big drawback in contemporary Indian education
system and society in general that questions and points of young minds are not welcomed by teachers and sitting on high and powerful chairs. West has this quality and a child is encouraged for whatever skill he has in a chosen field in his early days.
Views in this present articles are author’s personal views and they are not PFC’s views. PFC has published articles pointing out good things present in both the films TZP and JTYJN.
and more over few things are subjective. I for one dont like what we call well researched articles. I mean to say if I have to collect sayings of 15 learned critics or writers about a certain film or filmmaker and I present them as quotations with no or little personal input then it does not help me as an audience of the cinema. If I am reading autobiography of Einstein and read about experiments done by him and I understand them as he has written in a well and easily understood language then also I will not become a scientist of Einstein’s caliber. What I will do in lab, will be based on my personal knowledge.
Almost more than 90% people can show agreement that they did not like to read Kabir etc in class 10th or 12th because this was done for academic purpose and teacher’s and keys tasteless explanations killed the joy present in the words of kabir. When we read ourselves
pahan puje hari mile to main pujo pahar, then we admire the simplicity and deep thing present in his saying.
Teacher’s insitence on writing in a certain way, kavi kehta hai ki and then people have to quote what he is saying and it kills the purpose of the poetic insight present in Kabir’s sayings.
Its very subjective issue.
If we have to read what world famous critic said about certain filmmaker then for reading purpose its fine but if we dont see his sayings in the films of that filmmaker then its a borrowed knowledge.
an ordinary audience may quote a simple observation in Pather Panchali and it should be valued more than the thesis on Pather Panchali because many people may associate with that simple observation. Unplanned forest also fetches our attention and it can not be seen with low esteem because it is not a well designed and manicured garden. Both have to exist.
PFC is not helping in providing some level of understanding about cinema among readers and audiences but among authors and already learned film reviewers and critics also because variety is present and variety more than any other thing should be respected.
This is clear that majority of people have not liked present article’s weak points including personal remarks against something and somebody and we should admit that THIS IS PFC.
a person quotes wrong thing and many will enter in to the arena to point this out. So PFC is in the totallity, arguments and counter arguments.
and I have been observing PFC since last 22 months and can say that it has always been flourishing with the presence of alert participants like you.
and we are not designing nuclear reactors here that if newcomers are given chance to opine then it will bring harms.
Some people learn through reading silently and some learn through interaction with others and we have to accept both kind of people as they exist and we can not be against the existence.
@A Singh,
Let me also enjoy writing opinions on your opinions as you are welcoming good bad and ugly all kinds of thoughts
You write “Has PFC softened up?”
If you have followed PFC regulalrly then its quite an astonishing thing to know that you can have views like this that PFC can be the final verdict on any film in positive or negative manner. People find negative aspects in some films and they quote them, some people find positive aspects in same films they quote them, so where we are left in the last?
When an individual writes (like you have shared your opinions on Amir Khan, TZP, JTYJN, Black etc)then these views are limited to that particular posts only. Thats one very small part of PFC’s big existence. How a regular reader can see PFC in generalized terms?
PFC can discuss merits and demrits of film/s but it can not behave in a dictators ways to declare a film BAD BAD BAD or Good Good Good.
Why PFC, any forum can serve only one purpose and that is to analyse different aspects of a film or films.
This is not written anywhere that those who write on films actually understand the medium also. Internet has given this power to everyone where he can publish his opinion on any subject.
I dont understand why and how you can blame people, Aamir Khan etc for TZP. When knowing very well which kind of subject this film is handling and living in a developed society where you have information on everything, you take your 8 year old (actually young) son to watch TZP.
This is not cindrella story. This discuss about an almost less visible (those who dont know about it will not get it in a child) and less known disease. Subject is meant for bit older people (atleast older than 14 years) if not younger parent’s generations.
Censor board often does this mistake in India that does not give certificates on the pattern as they are given in developed countries and result is, all the audience aging from 3 years to 90+ years are watching same film though film is not meant for children. Leave alone cinema halls in small cities, multiplexes situated in big cities where so called learned people live, dont stop children to enter in to the cinema hall.
There are certain universal merits in some good films and they appeal/should appeal to every body (even after considering the respect for subjective nature) and it does not happen when watcher, either does not understand the medium in a proper way or s/he is biased and thus closed and is denying the merits just to appease his biased negative feelings.
Not to emphasise that Films are not only stories, but most important factor is visual way of showing the story. A powerful story, which will fascinate almost every reader in print medium may be turned in to a good or bad film depending on the director’s capability.
When somebody objects the points in story then it should be clearly mentioned because he is not talking about how director has shown this point in his film.
You liked DCH because you saw it some years ago and rest assured some audience might have been there at that time also who would have objected many points in the story. Many might not have digested how Akshay’s Mom takes his love for much older and drunkard Dimple Kapadia. A person denying this film will say how middle class may accept it so easily. If some protest is there then its not matching with the real middle class people’s thinking and behaving.
Youth generation of today is liking visual presentattion of JTYJN. Many of them may not be interested in logic in story because something impressed them and in general an average film is all about initial interest it generates in the audience. Story and logic wise almost every film has some weaknesses.
Important thing is how director has shown his story and not what story he is showing.
These objections are lame that how college passouts can be asked to marry because many are asked and not only in lower or upper class but in middle class also. A real data regarding marriage can be shocking. One can not deny that Atleast there are talks and meetings to fix the marriage once education is finished. Not talking about those who migrate directly from campus to working place. Girls who stay at home are still married at younger age and often at 21-22. Those who have to prove something in career may delay the marriage but many follow early marriage.
and this debate is valid only in India like developing nation where people still dont know whether less children are good or more. It has become debate like one day a newspaper publishes that drinking tea is hazardous for health and one week later same newspaper publishes that according to a new research done here or there, tea is good as it provides anti-oxidants.
So many things have no real bases. They can not have bases. some years ago huge population was seen as a curse and today nation boasts on its huge population of young people. Just way of consideration has been changed though mathematical data has been same.
This is funny that you find positives in JNYJN in the form of (the Khan brothers, the Rathore angle, Naseer and Ratna Pathak shah angle) though they are like patches on an otherwise young love story. They are multiple tracks and film could have been made without them but a film can not be made only with these multiple tracks. They are imported item scenes. Their natures dont match with nature of major plot. But film has to be made of certain length.
so here comes subjectivity in to the focus. You have liked something which is not necessary for the film. Naseer, Ratna Pathak Shah are good actors so they naturally would play their characters, whatever they are, in very good manner.
analysis can be done on why young generation is liking the film so much.
and we can not ignore the importance of context. TZP can not be a great film but perhaps people watched it beacsue they found out that it educates them regarding an important issue. and there should be proper analysis becasue its first effort of Aamir Khan. and then he has to be analysed for his three roles he played in the making of this film.
Producer- was he good producer because he made film on this subject.
Director. was he a good director and if not where he faulted. we can not escape by writing one line only that it was badly directed film.
Actor- did he act well. and we have to compare this also that whether he acted at par with his other films where he has been directed by others. is there any dilution in his acting because he acted as director also? and if this decay was mantained all through the film or he acted as usual good in few scenes but marred many of the scenes.
So many issues are there with films you touched and many issues are there with your take on the films and how you prseented that take.
Hope discussion make all of us bit more mature as far as cinematic understanding is concerned.
I think, the idea is not that we need well researched and indexed articles. I’m all in favour of individual flourish and verse. But an article at a place like PFC should be good. Whether it criticizes or whether it praises, it shouldn’t seem out and out prejudiced and personal rant like. That’s the long and short of objecting to this post.
However, I understand that a blog is a free thing and all, but it’s a little disappointing at times seeing some of the near profane and unsubstantiated articles. I think, as a creative community, we deserve better articles. There are lot’s of good things in Indian cinema. How about a post on Hazaaron
@Subhasish,
True. Variety of articles are needed covering well researched as well as based on personal knowledge also.
and this lively nature of PFC is amazing. Super rant on rant! Double dose of suger on the sugary thoughts!
This makes it interesting and alive.
and then its a big restaurant and various activities are happening at different tables.
One can be choosy to select the table and dishes.
24 hours are less to describe good things in Indian cinema.
Certainly there will be many good posts on Hazaron KA, describing many among all of the good things present in the film.
New thoughts are always welcomed.
@Vineet:Bottom line…I would love to see an article from you…Bt you know what..every time we cannot have researched article..that would kill spontaneity.Like Rk saab said…its an A La Carte..
At last I found someone who echoes my sentiments.. This is one movie which is so pretentious that you start believing that Paris Hilton is indeed into charities. Aamir made a joke out of dyslexia and why the hell couldn’t he have kept the boy entirely normal and made him defy the norms rather than afflict him with a disease and then make him draw a triptych. For once i wished, if only Aamir had made a frame-by-frame adaptation of 400 blows. As the commiserating teacher, Aamir evoked bathos (not pathos). If you are a dyslexic, then you can be nothing but a painter. At least the movie had 100 per cent success rate. This is pretentious shclock. Period.
Jaane Tu is a much better film. But it has that gigantic mountain of cliches to climb too. That’s where it falters. However, Tyrewala has his sensibilities intact.Like the last scene where Samuel Beckett is recalled. That’s intelligent cinema for me. Am sure Tyrewala will do better but Jaane Tu was a tepid fare.
@ Jagan: Agree with you on Jaane Tu and also to some extent on TZp, but I think you are being too harsh.
@Vineet: look, I am fine with healthy criticism but surely you would agree with me when I say that saying we worship somone’s genitals (God bless them) is not exactly ‘a healthy dose of criticism’? You say we should counter with arguments- we have done that many times nd the posts are there for everyone to see- Anand has already posted some links- here is an article of my own, where I have disagreed strongly with AK on Swades.
http://passionforcinema.com/in-defence-of-swades/
I am not objecting to criticism of AK, I am objecting to these worthless and baseless accusations made on us. We often praise AK’s work and there is no denying the fact that he is one of the best and bravest filmmakers around, and yes we are biased towards courageous and quality cinema but not towards AK or any filmmaker. I am not trying to trample dissent or indulge in ‘expulsion- who am I to ‘expel’ anyone? All I am saying it is, if you think PFC is such crap, don’t read it. I mean if we are *so* stuck on the agenda to promote AK and *so* biased and *so* awful, then there is little chance we will improve really. So no need to waste time, isn’t it?
Perhaps deviating a little bit from the hot debate here, talking about TZP, there’s one principle contradiction which kills the cinema. Why a dyslexic kid, forget dyslexic, why a kid, who loves painting, has to win a competition and prove a point? Why couldn’t the kid not appear in the last scene and instead be in that beautiful valley and paint his own painting? Aamir could have gone there and realize where a child really finds his love and solace. Instead, what we see is, despite despising the horse race and competition and stuff, the Nikumbh himself pushes the child into the same mire. Also, if any body has noticed, Aamir hardly let Darshil do anything in the second half. Since his entry, Darsheel died in the movie.
Very true, Subhashish.
The REAL problem with TZP is that it got lot of popularity!!!! Had it just been a flop unnoticed movie, it would have been a masterpiece..
parthaya satyam prathibodhitham!
That’s EXACTLY EXACTLY what I have been thinking, trying to say for a while now…
Hmmm,….
http://passionforcinema.com/taare-zameen-par-a-tale-of-two-ditties/
Wow! The discussion goes on. Sorry, if I haven’t been able to participate as much as I would’ve liked to.
RK,
Your objective criticism of the post is most welcome. But i think some of you are missing the point I was trying to make, and may be I didn’t make it as well as I should have. Not all of us great writers..like Oz or RK, the two I have admired on PFC.
But even us the ordinary ones will certainly improve as we go along.. so for that..thanks to PFC for providing a forum and live and kicking audience. As i said, earlier, I welcome all comments, except the personal attacks and profane language.
Anyway, my point in the article was, not that these movies were crappy, but that they were over hyped and because I get to watch the movies a litte later than most, most of the reviews I read set very high expectations for me that the movies didn’t match. So again, not bad movies, not run of the mill, but too much overhyped. Please note that I did point out the positives or things I liked.
Similarly, the point against Amir Khan was not that he is bad actor or director, I am a big fan myself, but was against hero worship. Just because it was directed by him, shouldn’t prevent us from judging the movie from our own objective point of view.
And RK, as you and many others said, this was puerly as an audience watching the film, which is always so subjective and varies from person to person.
I have read articles of varying quality on PFC and liked some of them more than the others. The articles I liked were primarily because of the writers’ style of writing and the content. Some of the well researched artciles were boring to me, as I am not a student of film making. I watch movies purely as an audience, and love it, as RGV says (yes I read it where else but PFC), being an expert on movies would have spoiled most movies for me.
And last point, I like all kinds of movies and will watch SIK and AK’s Chandani Chowk to China at least ones. These movies are overhypes too, but I know what to expect, makers themselves are calling them masala fares, am sure nobody will call them classics and will get hurt if anybody criticises them.
This will probably be my last post for next few days. Once I log back in if the discussion is still on, will chime in with my comments again.
A. Singh
TZP and MMJ are THE 2 films of the year, so far. Rest cannot even be compared to these 2. JTYJN is a better movie than all other movies of this year. I dont fancy much, movies like Aamir and Mithya. They were good enough till I came out from the theatre. Basss !! Goes without saying – All IMHO
kcp..tzp was last year na…
Take a bow Subhashish. Fab!
Om, yups sorry…just that these 2 are the only contenders (for me ) so far, to go for the oscars :-)
@A. Singh,
while its admirable that you found the courage to call spade a spade, i believe u will also agree (as u have later in the comments) that the language and tone left much to be desired.
but kudos for u writing this post.
for tone and argument- check playback’s post.
@Jahan
“@Kic: Sorry, I got carried away. No it doesn’t depend on whether a person agrees with me or not. But frankly, you tell me man, my simple point is why unnecessarily come here, read stuff and write abrasive, abusive and meaninlessly offensive comments if you think we are a bunch of biased people who blindly worship a filmmaker without any objectivity with respect to his films or cinema in general? If you don’t like PFC, don’t read it!”
Well, I may have misunderstood you – apologies in case I have. I did not realise that you were responding to offensive comments.
hey singh
i wont argue with rubbish comments
.
.
.all i can say is I AGREE WITH UR THOUGHTS
keep writing