A few simple things
about Indian Cinema that are often not understood, forgotten or Ignored by
followers of Indian movies, both here in India and elsewhere in the world.
If you ask a foreigner, who for
the very first time in his life, has come out of a theatre, having watched an
Indian movie, he will have this baffled look on his face. He would give out
this usual reply, that one can hear coming from the lips of a tourist, who for
the very first time, has come to visit India. “It’s so colourful, extravagant,
exotic and the people are so wonderful”. You clearly know that he hadn’t really
enjoyed it and was in fact taken aback by what he had witnessed, completely
contrasting to what he had usually seen and expected. “Why should we even
bother about what an outsider thinks of our films (or our country)? Indian
movies are meant for Indians and if we enjoy it, it’s more than a success”
would be the usual reply from an Indian, loyal to his country and to his film
industry...correction... industries.
Unfortunately however as is the
case with everything else in the world, whatever the west does, is considered
universal and the proper norm. They’re achievements are seen as yardsticks to
measure the greatness of a work, from all parts of the world. I have a lot to
say on this “Universality” of the west, but I rather leave it to Mr. Edward
Said (Orientalism). One cannot deny that Hollywood and several other film
industries from Europe have produced some great works in every genre possible
and surely they deserve to be given the honour of the “Best” or “Some of the
Best” to be more precise. But is it fair to judge Indian movies, with the same
standards, that people use to judge a western movie? Indian cinema is a whole
different ball game.
Before we get on with the
differences between Indian and Western Cinema (apologies for putting all the
individual film industries into one category) on the whole, we have to first
understand how Indian Cinema is actually viewed abroad. Many people outside
India, who follow Indian movies, tend to brand every movie coming from India as
a “Bollywood” film. But for people within India, “Bollywood” refers to films
coming out from the city of Mumbai (Bombay + Hollywood= Bollywood). But Mumbai
isn’t the only place where movies are being made. We got the Tamil films coming
from Chennai (Kollywood), Telugu films from Hyderabad (Tollywood), Malayalam
movies from Kerala (Mollywood), Kannada films from Karnataka (Sandalwood),
Bengali films from Kolkata (also Tollywood) and so on...
There are more than a dozen film
industries, based in different states and cities of India, with their own
languages and their own culture being portrayed (not to mention their own
version of some “wood”). There are sections of people within the industries and
outside, who feel that the terms like Bollywood, Kollywood, Mollywood and
Tollywood are very degrading. They prefer to refer to their industries based on
the language they use (like Hindi film Industry, Marathi Film Industry, Bengali
Film Industry, Bhojpuri) or refer to by the cities they come from, like the
Mumbai film Industry, the Chennai Film Industry and so on. Since the films coming from Mumbai (We cannot
forget the Marathi film industry, also based in Maharashtra, Mumbai being its
capital) are in Hindi (the national language of India) it tends to have the
most number of audiences compared to other film industries, therefore more
money involved and has the potential to become more popular than works produced
by other film industries. That however does not make it the industry producing
the best of works. If we do study the success ratio of movie industries from
across India, over the past few decades, the so called “Bollywood” industry has
had several peaks and several troughs, whereas the regional industries have had
a steady growth over the years. Catering to the diverse sensibilities of people
from different backgrounds can be a tough prospect and that could be an explanation
for the rise and fall of the Hindi Film Industry.
The migration of many people from
different parts of India, to other parts of the world, has lead to the increase
in popularity of Indian cinema abroad as well. This can be understood with the
increase in viewers of Hindi, Tamil, Telugu movies, in particular, from regions
outside India. Indian movies did have some following in Eastern Europe, Middle
Eastern and in several South East Asian countries for several decades, but not
as many as we have today. Shah Rukh Khan, the “King of Bollywood” is recognised
by non-Indians, even in places like South Africa, Australia, Germany and a few
other places where you normally would not expect an Indian actor to be
recognised.
The increase in popularity of
Indian Cinema, in these places, far and wide, does not necessarily mean that these
films are being viewed for all the good reasons. There are a few movies
genuinely appreciated for their great cinematography, good sets, colourful
costumes, melodious or catchy tunes, overall plot and so on. But there are a
few dance sequences, songs and videos with stunts of certain actors that get
popular, time and again, all for the wrong reasons, to be mocked and laughed
upon. Many outsiders might even consider “Bollywood” movies (not really being
specific if a particular movie is from the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali film
industry) to be a bit too unreal, with all its extravagant dances, songs
popping up in rather odd instances, visual effects that are not as convincing
as the ones seen in western movies and overall poor production quality.
The viewers however would not
want to seem rude and when questioned in person, in front of a mike, they would
try to give the whole “Exotic and colourful” routine. But the one place where
every person would be more than willing to express his or her honest view is
the internet. That’s where the true opinion regarding anything and everything
can be received, despite the presence of a whole lot of trolls. Forums on world
cinema and the comment section of you tube videos, give a somewhat real idea as
to what people, who come from lands outside the Indian subcontinent, think
about our films (there are however many Indians pretending to be foreigners,
commenting on videos, trying to give out a feel that their films are getting
really popular in faraway lands as well). But then again, their (people
generally on the internet) comments do show a lack of understanding of how
things really work in the Indian film circle.
First and foremost, movies of
different languages do tend to have different number of followers. As stated
earlier, the Hindi film industry has the most number of followers, followed by
Tamil and Telugu movies. The presence of subtitles can mean that you don’t
really need to know a language to understand the movie, but still when someone
says that we are to watch a movie of a foreign language with subs, we would
naturally have a bit of a hesitancy. We would not be as eager to watch a
subtitled movie, as we would be to watch a movie of a language that we are
really familiar with. Some people even consider the act of reading subtitles as
a work and they prefer to avoid it. Some people even complain that all their
concentration is on reading the subs that they are not really able to enjoy the
other finer things on the screen.
Furthermore the English subtitles
(let alone other language subs) really do not do justice to what is truly
portrayed and conveyed in a scene through dialogues and lyrics. A song sequence
in a Tamil movie, with all its poetic beauty and use of metaphors, simile and
other word plays, tend to look rather retarded when roughly translated into
English from the native Tamil lyrics. The same applies to dialogues in a
powerful scene. A long dialogue in an emotional scene in a Marathi movie,
expressing so many dimensions of a man’s feeling in the native Marathi, can be
roughly translated in a line in English, leaving non Marathi speakers to sit
rather impatiently wondering “What in the world are they talking about for so
long. Are the subtitles really working?”
Dubbing of movies can work to
some degree, but the body language and actions of people from different regions
differ greatly. So the dubbing alone cannot make a film suitable for watching
for people of all other countries. English movies work better all over the
world as people from all continents have some time or another, witnessed the
way of life of the west and are exposed to the body language of the people from
there. Body language and reactions of characters in a movie is very important
and what can be considered cool in one region, can be seen to be ridiculous in
another. Also certain actions are acceptable in certain parts of the world,
while certain others are not. Sex scenes are common in western movies and are
not seen as something bad unlike in the Indian subcontinent, while beating of
kids or women is common in Indian movies, but this is seen as something really
wrong in western countries. The real moral right or wrong are not for us to
judge, or at least in this text.
Language is just the first
barrier, or what is considered to be barrier by many. Sure, some of the
aesthetics of the language used in a movie is lost when it is dubbed or
subtitled in English, but it still does not become completely incomprehensible.
We’ve got bigger issues to deal with here. Audiences of International cinema
cannot accept certain characteristics of a particular genre appearing in
another completely contrasting genre. But in predominant of Indian movies,
there is no proper classification of genre. There lies the main reason why a
movie can be considered good within India, but poor outside India. This is the
very same issue that makes the life of Filmmakers a whole lot difficult.
Indian cinema began with
influences of theatre and street plays from centuries ago. In India, unlike the
Shakespearean times, where actors performed without any particular costumes, or
detailed sets, but started and ended with just trumpets going on and a dance
jig, here everything was detailed, costumes and make up were so focused upon
that they sometimes just blared at the audience rather heavily. Every play had
to have its comic scenes, the serious scenes, lengthy, well crafted dialogues,
songs with powerful lyrics and of course an engaging plot. Any of these missing
in a play, would make the audience feel cheated and make them think that they
have not been served for what they had paid. The same mentality carried over to
people of later generations as well. They expect the same number of things from
movies that their ancestors expected from street plays. They want the dance,
the song, the costumes, the sets, beautiful performers and even more beautiful
performances, the comedy routine, the stunts and the dramatic acting
throughout.
Thus modern filmmakers tend to
make movies with all these aspects, though the central theme of the story would
not require many things that are being added to it. A science fiction movie
based in the city of Chennai will have an abrupt song sequence with actors
dancing in some far away land, like on the hills of Machu Pichu. A historic
Hindi movie will suddenly have the actors singing in some remote deserted island
in Europe. Not to mention the appearance of a whole lot of back up dancers out
of nowhere. “Where did they come up from, all of a sudden? Why did they have a
song when we are about to make an important discovery in the plot? Nothing
makes sense here...” would be the comment from a person who is being exposed to
Indian cinema for the first time.
There are also business motives
here. It’s the songs from movies that get released first and the popularity of
the songs can bring in more viewers to the theatres to watch the films as well.
As for the dancers in the background, let us just say that more families are
getting fed, thanks to the employment of these dancers. Of course their
presence in dance videos do make the sequences more spectacular (this depends
on their proper use by the choreographer), but there are instances when the
song does not really require background dancers, but are used nonetheless.
Stunt sequences do often make a
significant portion in Indian movies and there are instances when stunts are
added for no apparent reason at all. There are a lot of Indian movies where the
female lead stumbles upon a group of thugs, who tease her and harass her, only
to get beaten by the heroic male lead, who appears in the next few frames to
save the heroine. This regular scene can be seen in several movies even today
and this particular sequence would have no connection to the main storyline.
Dream sequences where the hero imagines dancing with the heroine or the heroine
imagines singing with the hero is another regular in many Indian movies. These
sequences are those that take these actors and background dancers to many
foreign locations. “Why are these people in some far away land, when the story
is taking place in India?” Well though Indians these days are found in almost
every corner of the world, it still is not an easy affair for an average Indian
to visit lands outside India that often. These people would love to be shown
faraway, exotic locations within the few rupees that they pay for the movie. Of
course this one feature of Indian films wasn’t really taken from stage plays of
the past.
Speaking of money, people outside
India, must understand that Indian filmmakers and producers do not have much
money to deal with in the first place. Even though there are several producers
who are millionaires and even a few billionaires, they aren’t going to invest
in a trade that might not really fetch them a lot of money for certain. Most
films fail in the Box office, while a select few succeed, making the “film
business” a big gamble (like in any other part of the world). Successful Indian
movies do bring in a lot of money after its release, but many people haven’t
yet been able to figure out the success formula effectively. Even if that is
figured out, we cannot forget the fact that even the most successful Indians
films aren’t going to bring in money as much as those that the Hollywood films
bring in. English being a language that is popularly used all over the world,
Hollywood movies naturally have a larger following, from practically every part
of the world, thereby a larger market. Even an average grossing Hollywood film
can still bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. But Indian movies, due to
the language barrier, tend to have comparatively smaller following. Even Hindi
movies which have the most following in India do not fetch that large amount of
money as a Hollywood movie. In fact the most successful Indian movie can still
be at par with an average grossing Hollywood movie. One reason being the
Dollar-Rupee differences. Another being the number of audiences these movies
can attract and lastly the amount of money the Indian audiences pay to watch a
movie.
While in the United States, a
single movie ticket can cost around ten dollars, here in India, even the most
expensive of theatres provide tickets for close to one twenty to one fifty
rupees, (not even three dollars) while a majority of theatres catering to the
middle or lower class people (who are the majority of Indian film goers)
provide tickets for around a dollar. The most successful Indian movie so far 3 Idiots (2011) has grossed close to
eighty million dollars (combining Indian and overseas ticket sales), but it is
not every day that this kind of money is generated by Indian films. True that
Indian films’ popularity has gone up several levels, in the past few years and
it will continue to grow in the years to come. This would only put pressure on
the filmmakers to make better movies with the increase (hopefully with better
reception across the world) in resources. But still the lack of enough money
can be stated as a reason for relatively lower production quality in India so
far. But that is not the only reason why I have mentioned this here.
This uncertainty in a film’s
success has prompted many directors and producers of the past, to take a safer
path. Many producers are not art lovers or people who have ambitions of making
great movies. They are there as businessmen and they want to make lots of money
in quick time. These producers do tend to put pressure on directors to make a
movie with a particular formula, which they think produces maximum appeal to
the audience, based on the successes of past movies that have impressed many
people and earned a lot of money. This often leads to similar kind of movies
being made at different time periods. There are a few good filmmakers and
producers who take the risk and change the trend, thereby getting successful
having experimented with something new. This particular trend is then followed
by other filmmakers and producers hoping to have the same kind of success as
that movie which had tried new things. Little do these producers and directors,
who go for a formulaic cinema, realise that the movie they tried to emulate
succeeded because it did not emulate movies that came before it, but those
people took a risk and tried to make something new.
This is one more reason why there
are certain types of movies that keep appearing in different film industries at
one particular time. Since I am more familiar with Tamil cinema, I can point
out to the latest trend, that is seen in Tamil movies these days, that
involving a village back drop, with little known actors, dealing with a very
melodramatic subject, often focusing on the lives of poorer and downtrodden
people and centering around the southern part of Tamil Nadu. Another thing that
producers and filmmakers (who are more focused on money, rather than good
quality work) often try to do, is to understand the mindset of the audiences. It
is true that one must know their audiences well before producing a work for
them. But are the audiences being correctly judged?
We in India have the habit of
classifying audiences’ tastes and preferences based on the economic status,
which is as wrong as the caste system. There is a general belief that people
from a lower economic status enjoy the commercial type of cinema with all the
above mentioned elements and richer audiences, having been exposed more to the
world outside India and world cinema are loyal to the more “mature” artistic
cinema. This is one of the silliest believes ever, as a person from a low
income background can still admire and appreciate the intellectual films and a
person from a sophisticated background can still only prefer the so called
“Masala Movies” (One more way of referring to a movie that contains flavours of
different genres combined into one, often making it seem completely
ridiculous.)
But dividing films simply into
two rough types is not a great idea either. What is an artistic cinema in the
first place? Indian audiences have this thought that any film that does not
focus too much on the songs or dance side of the film and concentrate more on
the story is an artistic film. But dance and song are an art themselves and its
absence can make the term “artistic” less relevant. Of course the way the plot
is created, how dialogues are written and how the actors play their characters
can all give meaning to the word artistic. But the real meaning of ‘art film’
refers to the focus given by the makers to particular subjects that might not
be aimed at the mass audience, but focusing on a niche market, for their movies.
Some people even think that any movie that is slow in its narrative and has
absolutely nothing “entertaining” about it is an art film. Even some Indian
filmmakers having been exposed to western art films, tend to make their films
rather slow, thinking that these movies aren’t supposed to have a fast pace
about it. But a good story does entertain and it is wrong to claim art films to
be “dull, boring and not entertaining at all”.
Art films generally do not do
well in India. Art films of course do not make as much money as other
mainstream films, all over the world and that is understandable, but Indian art
films have lesser success than even an average western art film, owing again to
lesser number of audiences and the differing tastes between Indian and western
audiences. But there are some really good filmmakers, despite the lack of
proper revenue in art films, continue to make them and these few filmmakers
have to be lauded.
Some of the mistakes made by the
Indian directors, producers and actors themselves have to be given some focus
as well. I have already stated that most producers are only businessmen who
hesitate to try out new types of cinema, but it would rather be unfair to
accuse all the film producers in the entire country to be of this sort. There
are productions houses and film producers who have been in the industry for
decades and they do try their best to produce quality film and these sort of
production houses and producers are far and few, though they do exist and they
are the reason for good films being made. But are these few good films really
catching the eye of the world? Sure the people from the film circle, all over
the world, do get to come across these good Indian movies and they appreciate
it often. Many Indian movies have also time and again won prestigious awards at
various International film festivals, but do the common folk from across the
world, come to know of these films. Somehow many foreigners (not just
westerners, but people from all over the world) have the thought that Indian
films are all about romance, dance and fight scenes with “over the top”
performances. It’s because only such movies often get the attention of those
people there, as only things that are odd, often get noticed.
Even within India, people from
different parts of the country have different views on the various film
industries. Many followers of Bollywood, might consider Southern films to be
just about insane stunt scenes and fast beat songs (‘Apadi podu’ from Ghili (2004), one of the Tamil songs that became popular in other parts of India
for its fast paced music and dancing helped in stressing on this false belief.)
Similarly many south Indian audiences might consider Hindi films to be full of
crying and mourning scenes and some people might even consider Bengali movies
to be very depressing because of the sadder plots that many films from that
industry are ‘believed’ to have. However all these views are completely wrong,
as all industries produce all sorts of movies, but only the things that are not
very common in their own industries or better done in other industries, tend to
catch the eye of the people. Malayalam films in India are considered to produce
more realistic cinema and several films have been appreciated for that quality,
but they do not produce just realistic cinema and they do often dwell in
fantasy genre as well. Telugu films are more popular for their myth based
story lines, but they also do produce romance and action films as well.
So different film industries are
misunderstood to produce particular type of films, though they all do produce
several good and bad films in all sorts of genres and formats, even though
nobody can clearly define to what genre a particular movie might belong. Some
Indian film makers, often inspired by works from the west, tend to make those
movies in their own language. In many instances they openly declare that they
have been inspired and they are making it, while in a few instances, the makers
do not reveal about their inspiration and these films often end up being
criticised for Plagiarism. It is very much necessary for any filmmaker to check
if the movie that they are planning to make has been made in some other country
in some other language. If one is truly remaking a movie from some other country,
care should be taken that the credit to the original creators are given and
they are asked permission first, before the project is taken for production.
Several Indian filmmakers have often been accused for copying concepts and not
giving credit to the original movies, but this sort of cases do not mean that
all Indian movies are copied from movies from other parts of the world.
Some filmmakers often adapt from
movies or books created in some other country and they duly announce that the
movie is just an adaptation, but even then some people might accuse these
makers for having plagiarised. Kandukondein
Kandukondein (2000) was a Tamil film, the story of which was inspired by
Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. The makers had formally announced that the
movie was based on the book, but many haters of the director accused it of
being plagiarised. The movie actually deserved credit as the director had done
a great job in telling a story, originally based on a family from the Victorian
England, in the aspect of a south Indian family of the twenty first century.
The difference between a plain copied movie and an adaptation can be clearly
understood through this movie. This difference is not fully comprehended by
many Indians and they often confuse plagiarism and adaptation.
One more reason why Indian movies
don’t make as much money as the western industries is piracy. Western movies
too get pirated and its copies appear online and in black markets across
several countries as well. But western studios also officially release their
movies in DVDs and Blue ray disks, whereas most Indian studios don’t officially
launch their movies in DVDs. Even though many people do download English movies
from the internet, there are people who buy original DVDs and Blue ray disks
from markets or download movies by paying for it on Netflix and other similar
sites that provide proper print for a good amount of money, legally. Sometimes
the pirated copies can also help in more sales of the original DVDs of movies,
as many people, who have watch the pirated version of movies online, feel less
satisfied because of poor quality (in some cases) or even so impressed by the
movies, that they would want to own the original copy. This leads to increase
in sales of original DVDs of western movies.
In Indian film industries, only
certain movies are officially released in DVDs, but a majority of movies are
not and this leads to pirated versions of the movies, getting flooded in
markets across the country, which get bought by a lot of people, who want to
own a copy in their homes. And in India, the concept of collecting DVDs is not
as popular a hobby, as taken up by many people in the west. Sure there are
hardcore movie buffs, who enjoy collecting good prints of very good movies, but
it’s still a minority. Even they have to resort to pirated versions sometimes,
due to the studios not releasing their movies in original DVD formats. Many
people are just concerned with watching a movie for entertainment and they
might not be really concerned about the quality or how and where they see it.
If an entire family of seven to ten members can watch a movie for fifty to
sixty rupees (just around a dollar) through pirated DVDs, they are naturally
not going to spend thousands of rupees for the same number of people watching
the same movie in a theatre.
But people these days are
beginning to understand more about the hard work of the filmmakers and how the
reward for their hard work, can be lessened, by people not watching movies in
theatres and instead watching in pirated copies at home. Also more and more
people are beginning to understand that no matter how good a television set or
sound system you might have at home, it can never stand in comparison to the
experience of watching movies in theatres with all its effects and of course
with fellow movie goers, who can be equally excited as you are. Hence piracy has
to be curbed, in the following years, for Indian movies to do better, and
western cinema as well.
There are several things that
Indian filmmakers have to work on as well, to produce better quality of cinema.
One of the things to be remembered by filmmakers is to give as much importance
to the back ground score, as they would give for full length songs. Many
directors over the decades have created movies with songs that have become
tremendous hits amongst the audiences, but not that great a background score.
The background score is something that most filmmakers tend to undervalue. A
good background score can make a movie much more exciting and can give a
pleasant or a haunting feeling (based on the kind of scene the background score
accompanies) to the audience. Many people tend to not focus on the background
score when watching a scene and this makes many filmmakers think that it does
not need much attention. But the background score does enter the audiences’ mind
without their conscious effort and produces a great impact on their emotions.
Romance scenes with a pleasant
background score can turn a movie much more memorable and make a lasting
impression on its viewers, without their own conscious knowledge. A terrifying
movie with a lot of horrific scenes accompanied by a haunting background track
can create a sense of restlessness and fear in the minds of the audience and
that is certainly the aim of a horror movie. An energising, inspiring tune,
accompanying a scene where a sense of patriotism or heroism is to be
highlighted, can make the audiences feel their hair raising on their arms. A
suitable and impactful tune can create the perfect mood and ambience for a
movie, making a greater impression on the movie’s audiences and move them to
different worlds. Surely movies with good soundtracks are much more remembered
and cherished than ones without it, even if the movies have a good plot to it.
Use of Visual effects and
Animations in Indian movies is another thing that has to be given great
attention. While Hollywood filmmakers first used these highly complicated
programs, to make animations and visual effects, whose sole purpose, was to
create on screen, things that cannot be achieved in real life (like exaggerated,
gravity defining stunts or fantastical characters like ghosts, aliens or
magical beings), some Indian filmmakers think that just using visual effects
and animated characters in their movie, can make their movie seem highly
advanced and of world class quality. Filmmakers in other countries tried to
make the visual effects as real as possible, so as to not make the audience
differentiate, what is real and what is not, on a screen. Whereas some Indian
filmmakers, thinking that the audiences must know that they’ve used advanced
technology and complicated software to create something extraordinary, often
create works that appear quite obvious, that they have been created in a
computer and not real. This sort of a mentality must change and more meticulous
work has to be done on the animation and visual effects front in Indian cinema.
Indian film industries have been
blessed with some really wonderful stunt directors and stunt men themselves,
but are they being properly used? Many men have given up their lives over the
decades while working on complicated stunt sequences and many more have been
gravely injured. But all this hard work by all these stunt men go to waste, as
many stunt sequences are poorly edited, often with unnecessary fast cuts or
extremely slow shots. In many scenes the ropes and harnesses used aren’t
properly hidden by people in the post production department and the stunt
sequences appear poorly made, despite the stuntmen risking their lives doing
it.
Dance sequences are something
else that the people involved in it, put their heart and soul into, but the end
product becomes seriously messed up by poor editing. As stated earlier, the
dance sequences involve not only the lead characters, but also dozens and
dozens of back ground dancers, who appear just for the songs and have no other
part to play in the movie. The shoot of dance scenes can take days together and
a lot of hard work is put into it, to make the dance sequences beautiful,
pleasing and energising. The choreographers, along with the back ground
dancers, spend hours together to work on the various moves and perform over and
over again, to get the perfect output. But these videos, when they go for
editing, are often trimmed or extended for different reasons. Many directors
often end up having problems with the overall run time of the movie. They often
choose song sequences and stunt sequences to cut down on a few seconds. This
leads for certain great moves to either be completely deleted or made superfast
to reduce the overall timing of the movie.
Sometimes the editor or the
director might even think that a particular dance move or a complicated stunt
is really extraordinary and the audiences deserve to see it more. So they slow
down the particular dance step or stunt, to show the hard work and the skill of
the performer, but this really spoils the fun, as the real charm is in watching
it in real time. So the awesome quality of the dance step or the stunt gets
reduced because of poor editing. Sometimes the filmmakers would have even run
out of footages to complete a song, in which case they try to copy a particular
dance step that has occurred at one part of the song and paste it in another
part, when the song moves to a completely different stanza and music. There are
plenty of movies where one can spot such misplaced clips in songs and dance
moves not really matching the background beats for a few seconds here or there.
I can state one particular song
from a Tamil movie, which ended up being one of the biggest jokes on the
internet. The song ‘Kalloori Vannil’ from the movie Pennin Manathai Thottu (2000) became a super hit on you tube with
over a million people having viewed it. But it did not get popular for all the
right reasons. The lyrics of the song in Tamil were misinterpreted and its
homophonic translation in English was made to seem rather funny and crude,
bringing in laughs for many of its viewers. But that is not our concern here.
People, who saw the video, also criticised the way the dance sequence was made.
Sure the song was catchy and the people involved in the dance video were top
class dancers, but there were several instances of bad editing, many dance
steps made to seem faster than they really were and some even slowed down, some
re-winded and some just misplaced. It was a total mess and more than the
subtitles of the vulgar translation, it was the poor editing that caught my
eye. Surely the choreographer must have been really disappointed after seeing
the end product.
Many mistakes are also made while
recording voices for the movies. Before shooting the movie, most international
filmmakers get the script perfectly prepared, with dialogues and screenplay and
not much change is made during the shoot or during voice recording. But many
Indian filmmakers start with some basic idea, then make changes as the filming
takes place and a lot more changes are made during post production works.
Dialogues are often changed even after shoots and this can be seen in many
movies as well, especially in comedy sequences. The actor would be seen saying
a dialogue which was written during the shoot and while recording voices during
the post production session, the dialogue writer and the director might have
changed the dialogue. The dialogues heard on the final movie would be a lot
different to what the actor’s lips seem to say. These sort of small mistakes
are to be avoided as well. Changes can be made, but not too drastically and the
change in dialogues has to synch with the lip movement that was recorded
earlier.
Some mistakes made by new actors
are to be stated as well. There are two main types of movies that often get
made in the various Indian film industries, one being the commercial movies
showing the male lead to be the most perfect, heroic character, who can
overcome any problem that might come in his way, with a super human quality
about him. There are exaggerated stunts, so called punch dialogues, cheesy
romantic scenes and a lot more features that make the movie completely
unsuitable to be considered serious cinema. Then there is the other type of
movies that get made, where the main lead actor plays a more realistic
character, without anything too “over the top” or “ridiculous” and “invincible
about them”. The films of the first type might not work for all actors, but the
second can bring in lots of praise and recognition, provided he or she performs
it well. Every major star now, who do make movies of the first type are
appreciated and followed, despite the unreal aspect of the films, because the
people have already begun to trust them, love them and admire them, after
having seen them play the movies of the second type (the more realistic) during
the first half of their career. A Rajnikanth movie has all sorts of
unbelievable stunts and makes him seem complete invincible, yet people don’t
ridicule them, but accept them. That is because he has already proven himself
as an actor, by portraying realistic characters with great performances in the
first half of his career and has already entered the hearts of the people.
So even if he does unbelievable
things in his movie, people are willing to accept them, appreciate him and even
see him as a Demi-God. Whereas if a newbie actor, performing in his first or
second film, tries to do the first type of film right at the start of the
career, he would certainly not be accepted by the audiences, as they haven’t
seen him do the proper roles before. These actors must first show themselves
real, like the audiences themselves, the common man, by making the second type
of movies in the earlier part of their career. When such an actor turns into a
hero in the first type of the movies, in the later part of his career, people
will naturally admire the transformation and feel that they themselves have transformed
like the hero (whom they had began to associate themselves with, see themselves
in, when he did movies of the second type), making them praise him to be a
super hero. Many performers becoming ridiculed artists is because of them
trying to show themselves as ‘Superior Stars’ even before they have proved
themselves as ‘Proper Actors’.
Screen writers aren’t given as
much importance as they deserve. Many Indian directors write their own stories
and dialogues and sometimes screen writers are employed. But the common
audiences assume that all the movies that they witness are written by the
directors themselves. In many instances, in the case of big stars, even the
directors are forgotten. A Rajnikanth or a Shah Rukh Khan won’t be as awesome
as they seem on screen if it hadn’t been for the directors who portrayed them
in that manner and it would not have been possible if they hadn’t gotten a good
story, written by a good writer. Even powerful dialogues are credited to the
actors sometimes by the audiences, when it is the writers who are to be
appreciated for their creation. More recognition, money, fame and appreciation
has to be given the to the screen writers as well, along with lyricists and
dialogue writers.
India, unlike other countries,
isn’t about monuments or history...or should I say, JUST about monuments and
history. It is not a place where one can go and visit just for a few days, like
people do in France, Italy or Germany. This is not the place where everything
can be expected to be perfect and provide the ultimate satisfaction to the
visitors...In fact it can please you more, if you are open to the ways of the
local. India is about her people, her culture and her way of life. But there is
no single Indian culture, it is in truth a blend of cultures, languages,
religions and life styles. The real greatness of India can only be understood
by people who make the decision to stay here long enough to understand the
differences, the chaos and the confusion that exist and how despite them all,
India remains as wonderful and as prosperous as any other nation can. By
understanding the problems and flaws within the country, one can understand its
greatness, seeing how it manages to survive each day and progress towards a
better tomorrow. The order amidst the chaos has to be realised by the visitors
to understand the greatness of India.
Like the Indian cities,
languages, cultures, religions, Indian cinema too is greatly varied and one
cannot appreciate its values unless one spends enough time to observe a series
of Indian movies over different time periods and across different Indian
industries and the challenges that the filmmakers from India face. The
standards set to determine Indian movies can only be understood when one
observes Indian cinema on the whole, with all its diversities and differences.
Certainly the standards set by the Oscars, Golden Globe, BAFTA and other
academies and film fraternities cannot be applied to judge Indian movies. One
needs a better understanding of Indian cinema, its audiences, their
expectations and the unique difficulties that Indian filmmakers have in making
a good Indian movie that can appeal to the audiences of all sorts of
backgrounds (locales, tastes, languages and cultures)
I’ve seen some articles on some
Indian movies and their directors, written by various non-Indian writers,
critics and fans stating that some top level Indian directors aren’t still as
good as many other western filmmakers, but are still quite good enough to
impress some western audiences. One particular review about one of Mani
Ratnam’s films, by a normal film follower (like me) from one of the western
countries had stated that “Mani Ratnam might not be as good as Coppola or
Scorsese and he does add particular things to his movies that might not allow
him to enter the same league as Spielberg or Cameron, but he is one of the top
directors in India”. While that comment was meant to praise Mani Ratnam, it
also in a way put him down compared to other top directors in the world. But I
would like to state that a Coppola or a Scorsese, a Spielberg or a Cameron
might make movies that might appeal to the people of the world, but still they
wouldn’t be able to please people with tastes as diverse as in India and surely
they won’t have as many obstacles as faced by Indian filmmakers. Sure many of
their movies have run well all over India and they have been appreciated in the
subcontinent by many as well, but the people who watched these movies were in
fact a small percentage, a minor group of people spread across the country, who
do recognise how western films work and appreciate the movie based on their
recognition. To appreciate Indian movies, people from all across the world need
to recognise how Indian films work as well and then make their judgements.
Coppola or Scorsese might never
be able to please as many Indian followers as Mani Ratnam can across all
states, languages and cultures. They would make good movies of International
standards, no doubt, but they can’t make movies that can appeal to the varying
sensibilities of the Indian populace. Being an Indian director means you first
have to make a movie that can appeal to the followers of a particular film industry
and language...not to forget the various expectations within the people of this
particular language or industry. Then comes the even more difficult task of
spreading the popularity of a movie among followers of various other languages
and cultures of India, by impressing them with your work. Beyond this is the
prospect of mesmerising the audiences from across the world, who knows very
little about the culture from which the particular movie has come from.
Many Americans, English and
Western audiences on the whole still consider Bollywood (which they think as
all movies Indian) to be about dance, fights and songs. They still do not
recognise the other finer aspects of Indian cinema. To appeal to the masses,
you need song, dance, exaggerated emotion and fights, but to appeal to the
critics and international audiences, you need to make realistic film. How can
an Indian filmmaker work through all this? Also in India, good movies more
often than not, don’t do well in theatres and make very little money, whereas
the so called “Commercial” or “Masala” movies succeed in the box office, but
get very little reception from the critics. Money and critical acclaim often
appears inversely proportional. This sort of a problem, every filmmaker faces
across the globe, but nobody suffers as much as an Indian filmmaker.
So for a movie to succeed at the
box office, also to receive critical acclaim and also to appeal to audiences of
all the diverse backgrounds, the filmmaker has to work with great intelligence,
talent and skill. He has a very little ground to work on, where he might slip
to either side of the spectrum, the two ends of which seems to be money and
critical acclaim.
And there are other filmmakers,
who having been exposed to too many international movies, tend to make movies
in India where the characters and their lifestyle seem much more similar to the
west than to the people of ‘real’ India. Several Bollywood directors have been
criticised for making such movies and almost thirty percent of the Hindi movies
that have come in the past four to five years have been made in this fashion.
But Bollywood filmmakers cannot alone be criticised for it, as such movies are
being made in other industries as well, but more in the Hindi film industry.
The stories and settings in such movies are completely different to what is
really seen in India. The Indian audiences are often detached from such movies
and there is very little they could relate to in such movies.
Many filmmakers think that to
catch the attention of international audiences, they have to make movies with
stories, like those seen in Hollywood movies, but little do they realise that
it is the difference in the story and setting that makes audiences from across
the world want to watch Indian movies. But this difference or uniqueness is not
just about song or dance, but the original depiction of India and Indians in
all their glory. Veteran Actor Kamal Hassan rightly pointed out in one of his
interviews “The more ethnic you get, the more universal you become”.
The more we focus on India, her
good, her bad, her culture and the lifestyle(s) here, the more attention it can
gain in the international arena. So it is towards that one must work. Movies
are not only to entertain, but also to educate and make people realise what is
happening around us and in our country. The more successful one is in waking up
the audiences to the truth around us, rather than to put them to sleep with all
the imitation of the west, the more successful the movies will be among
audiences of all backgrounds, all languages, all cultures, all classes and from
all across the world.
We criticised the various
branches of filmmaking so far, but we haven’t yet criticised the audiences.
Yes, audiences too have several errors in them that need to be corrected to
judge and criticise a movie in a fair manner. Star power is something that
needs a great check in India. Every star has a large following for himself or
herself and the fans of these stars try to oversell the work of the star they
love, not really concerned if the work is good or not. Even worse is the act of
trying to undervalue the works of other stars, who they consider to be
competitors or rivals to the stars they love and support. The stars or actors
in truth might not have any enmity towards one another and can even be friends,
but the fans of the stars fight with one another as to who is superior. There
are often arguments between a Salman Khan fan and a Shah Rukh Khan fan, a
Rajnikanth fan and a Kamal Hassan fan, a Venkatesh fan and a Nagarjuna fan, a
Ajith fan and a Vijay fan... so on, as to who is the superior among them.
Sometimes the fan of one of the stars might try to create false rumours about
the other star or his work, in the hopes of trying to show their own star to be
superior. Such acts would only degrade the value of the star they are
supporting and bring bad name to him or her.
Sometimes a good work can
actually be wrongly criticised, just because the actor in that movie is not
very much liked by fans of other actors, who might be rivals to him. The
audiences should not really see who is performing and whether they like him
personally or not. Instead the actor’s work has to be observed and appreciated
in a fair manner. If the actor, who might be considered a rival to the star you
follow, gives out a wonderful movie with a great performance, he has to be
appreciated and given due credit. Every time you try to make a good movie seem
bad by giving wrong reviews about it, just because it has a star that you might
not personally like, you are only making a good movie not get a proper place in
history that it truly deserves. And is it fair on the part of all those other
people who have worked so hard in the movie, that is being wrongly criticised
by fans of the stars, considered rival to the actor playing the lead in that
movie? Just because of the hatred of people on one actor, the entire team gets
a bad reputation and get criticised on. All their hard work becomes nothing. So
audiences have to correct their attitude and give proper credit to good actors
and their movies.
Lastly I want to mention that all
the things mentioned here do not really represent or denote all the people involved
in the Indian film fraternity. There are good directors, bad directors, good
producers, bad producers, great actors, bad actors, good editors, bad editors
and so on. Not all the fans of the actors mentioned here are truly unruly and
not every issue discussed here points towards every movie made here. It’s for
the readers to judge and identify to where and what the things mentioned in
this text, really apply and that could be found only by proper observation. I’ve
just tried my best to explain both to followers of Indian cinema within India
and outside, about a few things that are not really recognised, but need to be
recognised and understood, to truly comment and judge Indian movies.
After reading the entire text
above, you might be wondering “What does the author of this text think of
himself? Has he been part of a film project himself? Does he have degrees in
various aspects of filmmaking? Has he achieved anything big in the film
fraternity? Has he even met great directors and actors at least once in his
life time? Does he even have any
experience, judging movies for a long time? What eligibility or qualification
does he even have to judge the entire Indian film fraternity?
Well to put it simple, I am none
of the above mentioned. But I am a simple, passionate follower of Indian
cinema. I also do recognise the differences between the various film industries
and the view of Indian cinema outside India. I can clearly sense what’s going
wrong where and what can be done to make Indian cinema a lot better to what it
is (they are) now.. As a simple fan and follower of Indian cinema I think I
have the rights to express my opinion and I have done so to the best of my
abilities. More can be added by more followers of Indian cinema, who recognise
these and many more simple errors, flaws and mistakes that can be corrected to
take Indian cinema to a whole different level. We are meant to conquer the
world and more importantly, to conquer the hearts and minds of people across
the world. If we can successfully conquer the hearts of Indians of diverse
backgrounds with different tastes, we surely can conquer the world with all its
diversities...
-A. Prashanth Narasimhan
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