I get it, the average indian needs an escape form his daily strife and so fueling the "escapist" Bollywood cinema that is now synonymous with India's film industry.
Walking into Kathi Roll on Poland Street this afternoon, I spent 10 mins of waiting time for my take-away, gazing at that iconic poster of Coolie. You know the one - Amitabh towers in the background, looking towards the sky, dressed in the classic red and white uniform, with a crow perched on one arm. Running all the way through the '80's, films such as this one, and others in the "angry one man" series or really any that preceded, going back to Guru Dutt, Shammi Kapoor, etc, typified the Indian approach to filmmaking which involved stretching reality almost to breaking point, but never beyond. Everyday situations, "reality" so to speak, were dramatised but our concept of reality based on everyday life, was the context.
Even as recently as Yash Chopra (arguably the founding father of "Bollywood") productions such as Chandni or those from the Madhuri Dixit era running through to Anjaam, this approach was upheld. Bollywood now however has broken it.
Let me start with defining this genre and then explaining what it is about it that irks me, and why the fact that it doesn't irk others, irks me even more.
As I mentioned above, Yash Chopra is unknowingly the father of the Bollywood genre which defines the bulk of mainstream film making. I say unknowingly because his films themselves I don't think fall into the category of bollywood filmmaking we see today, but he introduced the non violent romantic drama plot which has formed the blueprint that Karan Johar has knowing, or unknowlingly, adopted in his films. The difference is that Karan (and others) have broken that sense of reality that used to ground Indian films. The context within which their films are made are not based in the reality we experience everyday but a make believe world. The irksome point about this is that the film wants us to believe that this made up world is in fact our reality rather that simply being an abstract concept that the story is based in. It is intended to be a true representation of our lives but in being so far from that, to me it ends up being a mockery.
I'm pretty certain a few people disagree reading this far already but stay with me for a few more sentences...
This attack is not aimed at "escapism" generally; it is bollywood's particular brand of it. Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bansali, etc all fall into the same caterogry and in my mind, fall foul of the same criticism. A film can be escapist - by definition of an art form, I think it inherently is, but when it is a misrepresentation of just a sloppy job that overlooks details, I cannot appreciate it. Lord of the Rings is escapist in the most obvious sense where a make believe world is created as the context for the story. But this world is not intended to be a representation of our everyday live. Take E.T. - the context is our everyday lives but the plot is entirely fictitious and pure fantasy. One of my favourtie films, as is for so many other. There is a distinction between what is intended to represent our daily reality and what is purely fictitious. Bollywood to me is the product of thoughtless filmmaking which doesnt clearly define for itself what it wants to be. It's simply sloppy.
I hail Farhan Akhtar as one of those Indian Filmmakers who have corrected this. Through both Rock On! or Oye Lucky Lucky Oye he has made films that once again have a clearly thought out presentation - what is meant to be reality with perhaps an unusual story line. Even the most passionate fan of Karan Johar's brand must acknowledge the difference between a film like Race and Gajni. The latter made by a very thoughtful, detailed oriented Aamir is the perfect, ultimate Bollywood film. Yet, we don't lose our sense of reality even though we manage to "escape". Stupidity, thoughtless and low standards are not necessary conditions of exploring fantasy.
I love Indian cinema but I don't agree with accepting sloppy filmmaking as a unique genre. It's purely an accident and it's frustrating that so many others in the audience accept poor standards of filmmaking.
That's what irks me, not escapist plots, just bad filmmakers.
Walking into Kathi Roll on Poland Street this afternoon, I spent 10 mins of waiting time for my take-away, gazing at that iconic poster of Coolie. You know the one - Amitabh towers in the background, looking towards the sky, dressed in the classic red and white uniform, with a crow perched on one arm. Running all the way through the '80's, films such as this one, and others in the "angry one man" series or really any that preceded, going back to Guru Dutt, Shammi Kapoor, etc, typified the Indian approach to filmmaking which involved stretching reality almost to breaking point, but never beyond. Everyday situations, "reality" so to speak, were dramatised but our concept of reality based on everyday life, was the context.
Even as recently as Yash Chopra (arguably the founding father of "Bollywood") productions such as Chandni or those from the Madhuri Dixit era running through to Anjaam, this approach was upheld. Bollywood now however has broken it.
Let me start with defining this genre and then explaining what it is about it that irks me, and why the fact that it doesn't irk others, irks me even more.
As I mentioned above, Yash Chopra is unknowingly the father of the Bollywood genre which defines the bulk of mainstream film making. I say unknowingly because his films themselves I don't think fall into the category of bollywood filmmaking we see today, but he introduced the non violent romantic drama plot which has formed the blueprint that Karan Johar has knowing, or unknowlingly, adopted in his films. The difference is that Karan (and others) have broken that sense of reality that used to ground Indian films. The context within which their films are made are not based in the reality we experience everyday but a make believe world. The irksome point about this is that the film wants us to believe that this made up world is in fact our reality rather that simply being an abstract concept that the story is based in. It is intended to be a true representation of our lives but in being so far from that, to me it ends up being a mockery.
I'm pretty certain a few people disagree reading this far already but stay with me for a few more sentences...
This attack is not aimed at "escapism" generally; it is bollywood's particular brand of it. Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bansali, etc all fall into the same caterogry and in my mind, fall foul of the same criticism. A film can be escapist - by definition of an art form, I think it inherently is, but when it is a misrepresentation of just a sloppy job that overlooks details, I cannot appreciate it. Lord of the Rings is escapist in the most obvious sense where a make believe world is created as the context for the story. But this world is not intended to be a representation of our everyday live. Take E.T. - the context is our everyday lives but the plot is entirely fictitious and pure fantasy. One of my favourtie films, as is for so many other. There is a distinction between what is intended to represent our daily reality and what is purely fictitious. Bollywood to me is the product of thoughtless filmmaking which doesnt clearly define for itself what it wants to be. It's simply sloppy.
I hail Farhan Akhtar as one of those Indian Filmmakers who have corrected this. Through both Rock On! or Oye Lucky Lucky Oye he has made films that once again have a clearly thought out presentation - what is meant to be reality with perhaps an unusual story line. Even the most passionate fan of Karan Johar's brand must acknowledge the difference between a film like Race and Gajni. The latter made by a very thoughtful, detailed oriented Aamir is the perfect, ultimate Bollywood film. Yet, we don't lose our sense of reality even though we manage to "escape". Stupidity, thoughtless and low standards are not necessary conditions of exploring fantasy.
I love Indian cinema but I don't agree with accepting sloppy filmmaking as a unique genre. It's purely an accident and it's frustrating that so many others in the audience accept poor standards of filmmaking.
That's what irks me, not escapist plots, just bad filmmakers.
No comments:
Post a Comment