Friday, November 14, 2008

Dostana, Miami, and the great Bollywood lie

So Dostana will release today. People will throng to see John's abs, his butt too I believe, Priyanka's cleavage, and the sights and sounds of Miami, and the associated attractions of firangs in bikinis, songs in foreign locales etc. The movie will run, Karan Johar and his production firm will roll around in more money, people will be happy, and life in India will go on as always.

The entire thought process behind the movie must have been like this:
1. Select location based on which will sell the most.
2. Select actors and actresses based on who's hot and in right now.
3. Frame a story somehow around all this.

There is nothing wrong, or nothing tragicomic about this, except for one thing: This just isn't good cinema. For long, it is an open secret that Bollywood hides shoddy scripts and sloppy acting behind a facade of foreign locations, exquisite dresses, and of course, the skin show. But why do people fall for it again and again?

Why have all of Karan Johar's recent movies (Kal Ho Na Ho, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna to name a few), been shot in the Unites States? Was the USA central to any of the plots of the above movies? It's not only about him. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom was fimed entirely in the UK. Aap Ka Suroor, in Germany. Did it influence the story line in any way? The answer is a resounding no. Why do bimbos like Katrina Kaif, Sameera Reddy, Celina Jaitley etc. who can't act for nuts keep getting roles in big movies?

There's a general feeling in our country that even bullshit, if packaged well enough, will sell like hot cakes. We blame politicians for being profligate. We blame cricketers on their eccentricities. Why do filmstars and film makers escape, despite wasting crores?

I'm not saying glamor and aesthetics are unnecessary. But when things are put in just to show there is abundance of money, or to hide obvious flaws in the movie, it irks a thinking viewer. The idiots, of course, continue to wallow in these superfluous excesses, like Minisha Lamba's bikini in Kidnap, or Akshay Kumar's sherwanis in Singhh is King (each of which is supposed to have costed more than a lakh of rupees) .

Grow up Bollywood. Don't dish out crap like this. Grow up viewer. Watch Miami to your heart's fill on Travel and Living if you want. Don't shell out 150 rupees for the same.

(readers, your comments are welcome as usual)

3 comments:

samarth mehta said...

Why? simple enough. Theater reflects reflects the society. And yes the tom, dick and harry of bollywood viewership are shallow, dumb and/or horny.

BTW love Hollywood cos of the strong characters (well most of it).

Unknown said...

Its so true... tired of thinking which film could be worse of em all,, this shit keeps on piling up in bollywood these days... bt again i feel why blame the film maker or the (dumb)star-cast for this crap...its the audience that r attracted by these films,who r the sole reason for such films being made one after other.. how can people be fooled everytime? or how can people consider 200 Rs worth spending for 'Singh Is Kingg'. I feel its an art the film-makers have mastered to dish out very sub-standard films to the audience and make them believe that there is very little beyond this that you can get...

Anonymous said...

i agree with sanket... v should not blame the filmmakers for our shallow thinking and our lust for seeing busty babes onscreen... they are just making films which they know will sell....every year we stretch the limits of vulgarity in bollywood but still maintain that its the hollywood muvies and that have a negative effect on our young minds. Why do films like Aamir which was so well made (cinematically and economically with all new comers)not get the same appreciation. Why are only big budget multi crore films the most awaited. i am waiting for a time when the common man will go to watch a film for its sensibility and not to watch sharukh's abs or priyanks's bikini. Cheers