Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The controversy mantra

Am about to go to bed after watching an art piece by one of the most successful movie directors in India, Mani Ratnam. I only thought it's extremely important to put my opinion for debate out there if it has any weight. The much hyped directors of the desiwood(s) seem to take a pleasure in riding the controversy tides. Water, Sarkar, Guru, Iruvar, Ghajini, Rajneeti, Raavan, 3 Idiots... to name a few fall into this category. While the turn-over on the box remains unpredictable most of the times, what is driving this school of thought is a very interesting discussion, isn't it?

  1. Movie audience is unimaginably huge. I can bet my life on 3/4th of population in India being directly or indirectly informed about the tinsel world be it through Radio, TV or Newspapers. With all those special columns on actors' complicated relationships, programs on imaginary success reviews and titillating posters everywhere, it just goes without saying. My movie buff friends must excuse me when I say, there needs to be something splashy and striking in the trash to stand out to make it to the rack-sack, which undoubtedly is the current scenario.
  2. A top notch director is bound to appeal to the aesthetic lot (which unfortunately is tired looking for all crap and will be ok with the splashing trash). What more do you need than a most debated concept? Moreover, we can label the art realistic. There definitely are Nandi awards or some FMCG branded awards jury, who would have book-marked such movies to throw some confusing awards like Best Before-Interval Scene Ever or Best Post-Video Contrast editing.
  3. Don't you be tricked into thinking that the basics are amiss! A multi-starrer would make sure the reels are booked well in advance and by the time the audience realize they are in the dump, they would be watching the movie. Questions? Why do you think I'm publishing this post?
As everybody knows, the rules are set already. Attention is proportional to marketing and hence to money. The creators have their share, so does the movie team.
Honestly, I would say, all fair!

Audience! I would rather be happy for them thinking they have imbibed socialism. Just think about how many families of skimpily clad girls(read women) they are supporting! Sorry I'll mention guys without shirts also!?

Here some tips/techniques, which directors can make use of in the future
  1. During the shooting, an RSS, an MNS or a KV or any hired mob(good if they are famous, otherwise it's ok, depends on the budget actually) can attack and get some damage done.
  2. Find a sensitive religious issue like Purdah system or Honour killings - or a religious Epic is not a bad idea at all.
  3. Make a senior actor/director/producer/somebody(who is well-known) say "first of its kind in my life!" and keep it around for some time.
  4. Let the author or another director file a law-suit on IP infringement - Needn't be something understandable and it's ok if it doesn't come for hearing soon, the media will make sure it does.

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