Faar-mu-laah!

Mumbai Gangster, Potya gets killed in a Police encounter…..

 Noted Industrialist, Ritesh Sahani is murdered in broad daylight in the guise of a suicide…

 Failing to curb her drug use, a high profile model, Shonali Gujral dies of overdose….

 Unable to cope with her husband’s indiscretions, prominent socialite and activist, Anjali Thapar commits suicide…. 

Dominic D’Souza, a lowly conman and drug peddler dies of drug overdose….

Ever noticed how Madhur Bhandarkar kills off one of his lead characters in the second half of all his movies? No? Well Atul Kulkarni (Potya) died in Chandani Bar. Kay Kay Menon(Ritesh) gets murdered in Corporate. Soni Razdan (Anjali) commits suicide in Page 3. Ranvir Shourey (Traffic Signal) and Kangana Ranaut (Fashion) both died of drug overdose. He did rock the boat gently in Heroine with Helen’s character dying in the second half. Bold attempt considering she wasn’t a ‘lead character’!

In an industry that churns movies in the thousands each year, the number of flops outnumbers the hits by an epic proportion. While I’d love to quote exact figures, a quick Google search reveals that while creating a list of all movies released each year in Bollywood is easy, putting an exact figure on the number of movies in the article is a Herculean task! While I could still figure it out using some of my nifty programming skills, I frankly have better things to do on a Saturday evening! Hence, I’ll put it in perspective through analogies. It’s easier to win Takeshi’s castle than to make a hit Bollywood movie. It’s easier to run a full marathon than make a hit Bollywood movie. It’s easier to cook a nine course meal for 32 guests than make a hit Bollywood movie. It’s easier to….Aaahhh you get it!

Hence to have a successful run at the movies in India is no easy game! If you are a filmy keeda like me, you have seen umpteen interviews of ‘stars’ and directors say really pseudo-intellectual and heavily-doped-up-artsy things like ‘Film making is an art.’ ‘Nobody knows what the audience wants.’; ‘I don’t get into the numbers game. I just follow my instinct’, ‘I don’t understand the business’, ‘Do you understand the business?’, ‘What do you think the first weekend collections will be?’, ‘the audience has “opened up” to all kinds of cinema’; ‘The Indian audience is schizophrenic’. And my personal favorite -‘I love my craft’.

While I want to give due credit to some filmmakers that genuinely ‘love their craft’ and who ‘tear the envelope’, ‘push the boundaries’, ‘explore themselves and their craft’, most Indian film making is not as much as ‘respecting the art’ as it is ‘following a tried and tested faar-mu-laah’. Nobody knows what the audience wants? I beg to differ. We all know that Indian audience love scantily clad women dancing to racy music laced horrible but immensely catchy lyrics. It’s been two years but I still can’t get ‘Hookah bar’ outta my head! Indian audience also loves flying goons to a single punch. They love loud and predictable comedy. They love sad romantic songs!!! No seriously… Case in point…

They love ‘hero-giri’, item songs, cheesy dialogues, romantic songs in foreign locations, monologues against corruption, item songs, heavy and outlandish action that defies all laws of Physics, a maniacal villain, item songs, beautiful women and did I mention item songs? And do you know what they love most of all? All of these things in 1 single movie!

If you think about it, every mainstream director, actor, producer has made his/her career based on a single formula that has worked for him/her. Since Kick released last week, let’s start with Bhaaaiiii...  Need I write further?

·         Step 1: Take off shirt.

·         Step 2: Do not follow the choreographer’s instructions and repeat the dance that you did in that Baarat that one time

·         Step 3:Beat up what would be an entire rugby team, in a single punch

·         Step 4: Introduce a non-Indian actress with no Hindi diction but a beautiful face

·         Step 5: Behave like a brat throughout but insert random acts of kindness because deep down you have a heart of gold.

And the list goes on….     

                                                                                                         

Every Rajkumar Hirani movie has a social message wrapped up with comedy and emotions…. Mahesh Bhatt movies have ‘great music’… Emraan Hashmi would kiss an actress in the middle of her dad’s funeral if he had to…. Rohit Shetty has made a career out of blowing up cars…. Abbas Mustan movies have ridiculous plot twists inserted in the movie because ‘that’s what our audience expects of us’…. Sanjay Leela Bhansali has lavish sets mixed with a lot of color and heavy dose of emotions…. Imtiaz Ali is always defying society’s norms…. Prakash Jha makes ‘real movies’ based on ‘real events’ with ‘real actors’ like Arjun Rampal and Esha Gupta. Prabhudeva makes South Indian remakes with a regressive touch coupled with dance numbers. YRF and Dharma continue to doll out tutti fruity love stories. Farah Khan signs SRK and inserts a lot of filminess and dance numbers. Milan Luthria films have a heavy dose of dialogue baazi moving around a razor thin plot and Ram Gopal Varma…..well….hhhmm…ok….Two minutes of silence for Ram Gopal Varma.

While most of this is dreadful, there is one formula that I quite like. And that formula belongs to my favorite Indian filmmaker, Vishal Bharadwaj. Some of his formulas are well known. Most of his movies are literary adaptations. The subject/handling is ‘dark’. The characters are quirky. They are based in hinterlands of India. His wife, Rekha Bharadwaj usually sings a track in the album.  There is however one formula that hasn’t been talked about. And this formula is hidden in his movie albums. Before I reveal it, a little trivia. A little known fact about Vishal Bharadwaj is that he became a filmmaker because his music composing career was at a low point and the only way he could continue making music was by directing his own movies. And boy am I glad he did! Without further ado, Vishal Bharadwaj’s formula……<drum rolls>…..is…..that….each album of his movies has a soulful track…. <crickets chirping>…..<baby crying>….

I agree that doesn’t seem like much. But what makes it special for me is that each of these tracks is fantastic! It’s underrated. Hell it’s not rated! Most of the tracks that I am about to link in here are probably unheard. Each of these tracks are soulful, deeply poetic and really soothing to the ears. They are beautifully voiced by Vishal Bharadwaj himself. The ‘Beedis’ and ‘Dhan te nan’ of the worlds have rocked a lot of parties but somewhere these gems have remained undiscovered. I would love to describe them further, but I am going to let the songs do the talking...rather the singing! If you’re a Honey Singh fan, you are in the wrong neck of the woods! Turn around!

      Dil ka Mizaaj-Dedh Ishqiya

       Kaminey-Kaminey

 Khamakha-Matru Ke Bijli ka Mandola

  Bekaraan-Saat Khoon Maaf

O Saathi Re-Omkara

Zabaan Jale-Dedh Ishqiya

Self validation

Ok, in not so many words, veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah, gave a voice to my comment about  Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, calling it 'a fake film' ! Hahaha. ok, that's kinda funny. Gotta love this man's candidness! I'm most likely suffering from a bout of heavy self obsession and delusion, but the way I read that interview is, "He's referring to what I wrote in my blog!". So I'm gonna go ahead and give myself a self-validation-self-five.

Telly Belly

Heavily inspired by my Mumbai dwelling sister’s blog article on the English television shows that we grew up watching, I decided to take a break from the 70mm (really?? just after two articles?? Well the heart wants and does as it pleases.) and take a look at its younger cousin that sits pretty, often dustily in our drawing rooms. But wait…In true Bollywood style I claim that my article is a ‘different’ and ‘hat ke’. Seriously the readers of this article are in for a huge shock! A twist that will make them hula hoop naked through the streets! Are you ready for it? I’m not looking English television shows that I grew up watching. I’m looking at the HINDI SHOWS THAT I GREW UP WATCHING!!!!...Hhhm!!....Hhhmmm???...

But seriously, the article inspiration aside, I have been a little high on 90’s nostalgia for the past few months. Part of the reason is that I get daily updates from Facebook groups like You knew you grew up in India in the 90s when… and I read another article that gave me a warm, fuzzy, wrapped-up-in-a-blanket-with-a-cup-of-hot-chocolate-on-a-cold-rainy-afternoon like feeling about 90’s. Now add to this to nostalgia cocktail, a dose of current Indian television serials that I happened to catch a glimpse off while visiting my New Jersey dwelling sister over the Christmas weekend. I felt like I needed to explain the whole scenario of me catching the glimpse here because one of my greatest fears is that I am found dead in a ditch, smartphone in hand, YouTube app playing, Iss Pyyaarr ko mein kya naaamm du…??? Episode 13…I shudder even as I write this. Seriously, I can’t stress how badly I wouldn’t want to be found dead watching those serials.

So this heady cocktail made me think back to the Hindi TV serials that I or all kids of the 90’s who were lucky enough to have a TV at home, grew up watching. No offense here. But anyone who grew up in that time knows how one truly had to be blessed to own things like an Onida TV…… or a Kinetic scooter with a button start!!..Seriously, you don’t have to kick it???...... more than two Hot wheels cars!!,…..A HE-MAN ACTION FIGURE!!!!!....., a rubber ball that’s not lost yet!!!!.....NO…….shoes THAT EMIT LIGHT!!!!!!.... a cycle!!!! A cricket bat that doesn’t suck!!! And on and on I can go. I guess it’s in all of us to somewhat romanticize our past, hate our present and demonize our future. But it’s also in all of us to love our childhood. So I proudly flaunt my love for the 90’s. RANDOM IDEA: I am going to get an I <3 the 90’s t-shirt made.

But I digress. Coming back to the Hindi TV serials of that time. Before I get into to the list of shows that I thought back to, I would like to make a larger point here (Bear with me). I believe off late, a common sentiment in urban India is that we as a country are regressing. With the recent SC judgment of reversing section 377, the absolutely horrendous atrocities that women have been through in the past few years, the idiotic ‘Smoking is injurious to health’ captions incorporated in movies, shutting off restaurants by 10.30 pm and other larger issues that I fail to recall right now. Now while TV shows don’t really qualify to be a part of this discussion plainly based on the gravity of the issues. And I make no attempt at arguing otherwise. But the common thread here is the very emotion that I go through while watching TV shows of today-“What?? Really???...Oh man!!.....You can’t be serious!.....NOOOOO….We got it right the first time!!”.

And we truly did, I happened to be of age at a time when the first private cable channels came around in India casting a huge shadow on the tame public channel, Doordarshan. And man was it a big hit! Gone were the days when Sunday morning/cricket match was the only time one got real entertainment from the telly. Gone were the times when housewives had to nap along with Doordarshan on Weekday afternoons. For the uninitiated, Doordarshan pretty much did not have shows to cast in the late afternoon on weekdays and since the viewership was low during those timeslots, they didn’t feel motivated to change that.

Now awkwardly jumping bang on, right into the very point of this article is my underlying message to the premier private cable channels of India vis a vis Zee TV, Sony Entertainment Television, STAR TV : YOU GOT IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME AROUND! The shows that first came on TV from these channels had good stories (or at least a semblance of one), great characterization and above all good acting! This was a time where I imagine being a TV actor was not uncool. The shows weren’t trying to imitate their cooler 70mm cousin. There weren’t freaking item songs in the middle of the episodes! I can’t remember Bollywood actors making cameos to promote their Friday releases. The characters (at least a good percentage of them) were grey and not black and white. Sure, the excess melodrama existed, but the milieu of the shows was still relatable. I can’t recall excessively gaudy sets or excessively noisy background scores. I remember that characters could be nice people and still enjoy a smoke or have an affair out of a loveless marriage or even a perfect marriage! Businessmen destroyed their rivals and there was an attempt made to explain HOW THEY DID! Sure the shows suffered from the usual caveats of stretching the story well beyond its worth, annoyingly ending episodes at interesting/suspenseful moments, adding random characters to increase interest (oh-she’s-the-bastard-sister-of-one-of-the-lead-characters-and-the-character-has-decided-to-accept-her-as-her-sister-but-we-don’t-know-her-true-intentions-yet). But I would like to believe that there was a genuine effort/passion that went behind making these shows. Nothing earth shattering but good popcorn or rather chai-pakoda entertainment.

Anyway, this topic is highly rant worthy, so without further ado, I am going to go ahead and enlist the good old shows from the early 90’s cable TV.

DISCLAIMER: My memory of most of these shows is pretty hazy and I’m too lazy to google the depths of google. So if I’m factually wrong here, just let it go….Seriously….please…let….it…..go…..

Shrimaan Shrimati

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzo2ZKHiXX8

This was a time when Archana Puran Singh did not serve as the poor substitute to Navjot Singh’s boisterous laughs on reality shows. This was a time when people knew who Rakesh Bedi was(in top form as the effeminate husband of a popular actor). This was a time when the late Jatin Kanakia (one of the funniest guys on TV) was still around. Whether you remember the show or not, I bet you remember ‘Kokiji……’

Hum Paanch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udODwTdmt8A

Believe it or not but the reigning queen of the hammy, OTT K-serials that we all love to cringe at, once made a really funny TV show. While it’s slightly embarrassing to admit now, but I was a regular viewer. The highlight for me was the impeccable comic timing of Ashok Saraf as the father of 5 daughters each with her own idiosyncrasy. The lasting memory of this show for me is Sweety, played by Rakhi Vijan, who would sing a different Bollywood song each time she opened the door for a guest in the house.

Teri Bhi Chup Meri Bhi Chup

Ok, shockingly, I couldn’t find a video of this show on YouTube or even a relevant image on google. Was I the only one who saw this show? This one worked for me purely because of the chemistry between the late Shafi Inaamdaar (again, a great loss) and Bharti Achrekar. Their daily husband-wife banter based on household/livelihood issues along with raising two kids formed the crux of the show. Undoubtedly the cutest couple of 90’s television.

Parampara

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TICR4Z7KXto

Man, was I hooked to this show! Again, didn’t find anything relevant online to jog my memory but from what I remember, this show was about joint family feuds that extended to the business in the form of power games. The highlight of this show was Mohan Bhandari’s portrayal of Naresh Malhotra (the primary villain of the show). He drank, he schemed, he womanized, and he was rude and brash. Man, was he cool! This is the man who taught me how to say, “Bloody hell!”

Hip Hip Hurray!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED8LaO2XzWQ

Ok, if my male friends are to ever find this post, I’m going to get severe judgment for this! But let God be damned! I was in my pre-teens/teens when this show aired and it had a heavy portion of hot girls clad in short school skirts occasionally interrupted by some semi-douchy guys! Watching this show was like sneaking a glance of desirable legs while purposefully dropping your pen in class. Needless to say, waxed legs are the only lasting memory I have of the show.

Banegi Apni Baat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QROF8LPWc04

I’m surprised of how very few people know that the now globally celebrated Irfan Khan (one of my favorites) was once a wife beater on television. I still faintly recall the disgust, fear and loathe that he induced in me whenever he made an appearance. Looking back, I got into the show due to avid interest my “I am too mature for my age” sister had in the show and the avid interest I had in doing everything around the television. We were definitely not of age to have watched this show that revolved around mature concepts like college pangas, rich man eats poor man, marital problems and obsessive lovers. What stood out for me was the stellar star cast that also included R Madhavan, Varun Badola, Kalpana Iyer and Sandhya Mridul.

Andaaz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPNbvx6ZdKE

The beloved Hiiiimeesss bhai made his musical debut in this show (from what I know). Again, a show with a stellar star cast. Sudesh Berry. Enough said. This guy was seriously cool in the 90’s. The angry young man. I’m slightly embarrassed to admit but I was a Sudesh Berry fan boy. His style, voice, dialogue delivery…waaah waah kya baat. Navneet Nishan (of Tara fame) was the main antagonist of this show. Now here was an ambitious woman who would go to great lengths (often use her sexuality to manipulate the men around her) to get what she wants, which was usually money and general anarchy in her ex-husband’s (Berry) life. Now you tell me. Is there a single character like her’s on TV now? One of the lasting memory of this show was how Shekhar Suman wore no shirt inside his suit in almost all episodes and me thinking: ‘Wow! That looks cool!!’.  90’s was a very confusing time fashion-wise for me.

Just Mohabbat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX-BzH3Pc18

Frankly, I wasn’t a huge fan of this show and I thought the main character, Jay was extremely annoying. I’m still not sure why people gave him so much bhaav. But the main selling point for the show was its timing. It was cast Mon-Thursday at 4 or 4.30 pm. A time when most viewers are in a very Schrodinger’s cat sleep state and are not very demanding of their televisions,. As a kid, it served well to fill the time when you were juggling your mom’s need of ‘You’re not going down to play without drinking milk’ and your friend’s shouts of “NI……LEEEE….SSSHHHH” from downstairs. Lasting memory is Saloni saying, “Jaaaaa….iiii…”.

Hasratein

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNgjc3yLLa4

Wow, now this one surely deserves kudos for a brave story. Now this was a show where the central characters were a pair of philandering husband and wife. Filled with a stellar star cast, this serial rode on some good writing, unusual story ( for TV), and excellent chemistry between the then married Harsh and Shefali Chhaya. Again, I was probably not of age when I watched this, but it was TV drama at its best. They don’t make shows like this anymore!

Woh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGhidZXzHlw

We all remember the Zee Horror Show’s and Aahat’s of the world. While those shows had their horror moments (amongst many comical ones), Woh was seriously scary! Starring Oscar nominated director Ashutosh Gowarikar in the lead, the show was based on a clown that kidnaps children in mysterious ways. I’m not sure if the show was cancelled or ended soon, but either ways, I’m glad it ended on a high. Lasting memory: The sleepless nights I spent after each episode aired.

Family no. 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szc_RSp7Z8Q

Two families are duped into taking a single beach bungalow for rent, neither will back off so now they are forced to reside in the house together. The comical attempts of each family to force the other out of the house formed the premise of the show. Basically reverse Khatta Meetha meets TV. The show proved that one doesn’t need loud background score or stupid caricatures to evoke laughter. All one needs is the right lines in the right situations backed by the right actors. Lasting memory: The sassy kid that played Guttu. He easily had the best lines in the show.

Guru

Like many avid cinegoers, I too have a long list of classic/cult classics/all time great movies that I have heard people rave about but never gotten to actually watch them (or in many cases, couldn’t complete them).  Mother India, Mackena’s Gold, Mughal-e-Azaam, Good Fellas, Raging Bull, Salaam Bombay,  China Town, Dombrivali Fast, Bicycle Thieves, a lot of Hitchcock’s classics, Roja, Mirch Masala, No country for old men,  Awaara, Amelie, Ardh Satya, My left foot, Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, Apocolyspe Now,...... and the list goes on.... Until recently this list also included the likes of Star Wars series, Pyscho, Life is beautiful, There will be blood, The lady vanishes, Godfather 2 and some others that I fail to recall right now. I would say it’s been a great “movie classics catching up” year. I partly owe this catching up to the fast food junk-esque cinema that has been served by two of my regular movie eating joints: Hollywood and its Hindi speaking Indian cousin, who shall remain nameless here. Primarily because I want the readers of this blog post to gather around at cocktail parties, all dolled up in suits and dresses, drinks in hand to speculate about the identity of this mysterious and unheard of cinema! (Audience: LAUGHTER)

Two important additions to the list of classics that I added to my movie watching history this year came from the same film maker. And to that film maker, may his soul rest in peace, I write this ode. One of the several that exist. One of the several that shall follow. The late Guru Dutt.

 As I typed his name, the song from his movie starts playing in my head.’ Dekhi zamaane ki yaari....bichde sabhi....baari.....baari....’. Two of the greatest movie watching experiences that I had this year was from watching Pyaasa and Kaagaz ke Phool. It was long due. I had been told by my aunts, uncles, and friends, how truly fantastic Guru Dutt movies are and fortunately like most things in life, this wasn’t hyped! I was awed. Not just by the emotional quotient of the two movies which led me to tears, but by the brilliant camera angles/placements, the music, Mohammad Rafi and Hemant Kumar’s soothing voices, the dialogues, the performances, Waheeda Rehman’s beauty, the stories, the direction and most of all the underlying message of the two movies.

While Kagaaz ke Phool had its weak moments, Pyaasa was simply flawless! I was engrossed in every scene of the movie. I can’t rave enough about the songs-‘Jinhe naaz hai Hind par’, ‘Jaane kya tune kahi,’ Jaane woh kaise’ (which I can’t stop humming and is now one of my favourites). Not only did all the songs have beautiful music, brilliant vocals, touching and thoughtful lyrics but were also so brilliantly picturized. I only realized while watching ‘Hum aapke aankhon me’ that part of the picturisation of the song ‘Zooby Dooby’ from the movie, ‘3 Idiots’ is inspired from here.

While it’s tempting to go on and on about how both these movies are rightly termed classics and how truly saddening the twilight years of Guru Dutt’s life were, I labour on to keep on to the true inspiration of writing this blog post. While enough people raved about all aspects of Guru Dutt movies, I was dazed that nobody ever told me what a truly fantastic actor he was! You know those people who command your attention when they walk into a room? Well Guru Dutt is that to a movie frame! You cannot take your eyes off. Not only was he incredibly handsome, he was a great performer with excellent dialogue delivery, style and tone. Guru Dutt will steal attention from co-actors even when they are ranting off and he’s quietly standing.  I can’t remember the last actor I saw who had such immense screen presence.

 I would like to take a moment here to potentially re-define the term ‘screen presence’. I have heard a lot of movie critics’ associate this term with actors like Salman, SRK, Ranbir, Akshay etc. While I don’t intend to deny the screen presence of these actors, in my definition the purest form of screen presence is one where the actor has no cinematic props in the form of chest thumping dialogues, deafening background score, camera close up, etc but still manages to grab your attention. A true screen presence is one that commands your attention, not demands it. It’s easy to grab eyeballs when you have heroic dialogues to mouth with four item songs, bikini clad women around you and umpteen Madras cut action scenes in the movie. Guru Dutt had none of those but yet had your attention! The closest parallel that I can draw to him today is Irrfan Khan. Have you ever wondered to yourself why he’s considered such a fine actor? Some of his most prominent movies, Paan Singh Tomar, Haasil, Namesake, Life in a Metro and Life of Pi had him play some of the most commonplace characters. Can you mouth any of his popular dialogues? Can you dance in his signature step? Can you imitate him? (Apart from the signature “A bhaiya.....”) Yet he’s usually the most memorable person in almost all the movies that he stars in! He’s the kind of person who just creeps up into your sub-conscious. Guru Dutt is all that and a tad more. While I still admire the Amitabhs, Aamirs, Ranbirs and Hrithiks out there, I urge you to spare a thought (in terms of actual movie watching) for the Sanjeevs, Irrfans, Gurus, Iftekaars, Abhays, Daniels of the world!

But I digress. If nobody has ever told you yet, let me be the first one. Guru Dutt was one of the finest actors of the Indian film industry! And I say this after having watched only two of his movies (next in tow is Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam). And if you don’t believe me, believe CNN! To sum up, I say watch Guru Dutt movies not just for the movies but for the man himself! RIP Guru.

Jobs vs. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Granted.  At first glance, the title of this post looks ludicrous.  Jobs vs. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (BMB)!! Is there even a comparison? Or is it that ridiculous? I mean neither of the movies is a classic by any standards. They did decent business on the box office. Got mixed reviews.  So I would say making a comparison would be fair. If we are to compare the two movies on comparative box office performance, critics reviews, audience reviews, delivery on what the trailers promised, BMB is the clear winner. Sure Jobs will earn or probably already has earned more money than BMB since it’s produced by a Hollywood banner.....has a much wider audience considering that it’s in English....which is the global language.....more people watch Hollywood movies......Jobs is nothing short of a tech God and global icon.....blah blah blah.....

But the point I am trying to make here does not relate to the success of the two movies. Nor am I a film scholar to compare the technical aspects of the two movies and give a verdict. And I am definitely not comparing the achievements of these two great men and say who’s better than the other or has achieved more. They are both achievers in their own right.

The point I am trying to make here is that the Indian film industry (or at least the Hindi film industry) has not yet cracked the biographical movie code.  Well maybe that’s too dramatic a statement and an over –simplification.  A number of movies based on real life events/people have been made in the past few years. Sure, some of them like The Dirty Picture (TDP), Bose, and Guru had good performances and were engaging and were critical/box-office successes. But the question I want to ask here is, do they succeed as biographical movies? Do you while watching the movie feel like you are a part of the protagonist’s life?  Does the movie stay with you when you leave the theater? In my opinion, the true motive of making a biographical movie is to bring forth to an audience, the extra-ordinary life of a person in an engaging and entertaining manner. I say entertaining manner because unlike a documentary that usually presents facts about a person’s lives to an audience and is not necessarily meant to entertain, a film is meant to do just that!

Movies like BMB, TDP, Guru though good are let down by the song and dance routine and over-dramatization of scenes which are typical of Bollywood movies. I strongly feel that biographies are one genre of movies where the song and dance routine and typical Bollywood masala should be done away with. I mean really, did we need to see Dhirubhai Ambani sing and dance??  

Of the two movies I have seen recently, Jobs and BMB, I knew almost everything about Steve Jobs and almost nothing about Milkha Singh.  On paper, I should have liked BMB more than Jobs. But in reality, despite what critics say, Jobs was far more engaging. It’s not to say that Steve Jobs’ life is any more interesting than Milkha Singh. It’s just that in Jobs’ case, the movie beautifully cuts you off from 2013 and puts you in Silicon Valley circa 1970s and brings you all the way back to 2000s. It convinces you that the actors you see on screen are the world’s most iconic nerds that we have read about. With BMB, in parts yes, one does believe that it is indeed Milkha Singh that you see on screen but the tone is broken by all the razzmatazz. Scenes like the one where Milkha goes back to his village in Pakistan or the one in which his father is massacred in a very Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter-ish motif make you feel the story is more fictional than biographical.  To quote one of the reviews that I read, Milkha Singh deserved a better biography.

I think what most film makers that make biographies in Bollywood struggle with is running the thin line between making a biography that’s commercial (TDP, Guru) and one that’s more documentary like (Bose, Sardar). Very few film makers have been able to put forth biographies that show you a glimpse into a person’s life without inspiring snores out of you. A special mention here for Harishchandrachi Factory and Paan Singh Tomar (PST) both of which I thought were brilliant movies. Both movies threw aside the song and dance routine and unnecessary dramatization for a simple screenplay that made you feel for the protagonists.

I hope the movies on Mary Kom and Kishore Kumar that are due to come out in the next 2-3 years will do better justice to the people that they represent. But frankly, I doubt it!