Thursday, April 3, 2008

Mediocre Movie Madness

I was looking at a recapitulation of movies that have hit the silver screen this year and I was disappointed. Apart from one movie that documented the love story of two royal Mughals, pratcically all the others were centred around the industry from which they were generated in the first place - Bollywood. They were half-hearted stories of struggling actors in India's filmdom, of starry-eyed hopefuls and other painfully mind-numbing nuances that dominate desi tinseltown. My question: Who cares?

I understand that creativity levels cannot always be through the roof. But I'd say that that's true of individuals at different points in time. Not of an entire fraternity for an entire season! That's plain ridiculous.

I've never been one for comparisons. But it's hard to ignore some of the brilliant stuff that comes out of foreign markets. And no, I don't mean just Hollywood. Besides American masterpieces, it only requires a glance at Italian, French and sometimes Oriental cinema to see the facts for yourself.

As a firm movie-buff and one who has great faith in India's talent, it is my earnest appeal to the country's scriptwriters and other media folk to get their act together and push themselves a little further. To challenge themselves and come up with work whose viewpoint extends beyond the tips of their nose. Because frankly, if this is the state of affairs right now, I'm in mortal fear of the prospects of the future of this industry.

Indian fashion has already proved beyond doubt that it is capable of holding its ground in an international arena. There's no reason why Indian cinema should be an exception.

It's only April. There's still time to save this year. I'm also a firm optimist.

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