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springstepper
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7555 days old here
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ah ha , a forum on paki movies. well i am from the usa and i had no idea pakistan makes movies. it s a revelation. anyways i am a big bolly fan and i think it rocks. it s a great concept of filmmakin, locales and songs and dances plus they make a lot of sensible cinema. even if pakistan makes movies i shudder at the thought of what kinda movies a restricted, regressive society like pakistan would be makin. bollywood is the toast of the world right now and musicals are the order of the day. i went to india recently and was amazed at how much that country has progressed and modernised. it s in ur face obvious. always remember it s the open nonrestricted societies that make progress and i havent been to one single place in the world where bolly movies are not loved and enjoyed. this indian friend of mine was like 'watch 10 and u d be hooked ' and by god he was rite.
springstepper
Age: 124
7555 days old here
Total Posts: 77
Points: 0
Location:
USA, USA
news article in daily jang, sunday the 24th of august in the instep magazine section--
Bollywood calling
With each new film Bollywood is said to be taking a step towards a better, more enlightened cinema. So is our industry still competing with the one across the divide or should we just hand over the title of 'Big B' to Bollywood
By Shahzareah Husain
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and so goes the adage. But in the case of celluloid development watching Reema and Meera do their umpteenth latka and jhatka one cannot help but feel pangs of envy as Bollywood trots ahead to the finish line.
Now my argument to any friendly neighbour has always been that if we had the sort of funding from generous benefactors we too would be producing classics. But taking just this year as an example, the stark reality emerging is that it is not just the money but also the creativity that is slowly erasing the formula of boy and girl dancing around trees and introducing something that can appeal even to an intelligent mind. Previously Hollywood were reluctant to acknowledge Indian cinema but with Devdas and other big projects having made it to Cannes and back, equations have changed. And the non-resident Indian cinema wooing the bilingual audience through Bend it Like Beckham and Monsoon Wedding suddenly, the developed side of the world now seems to be in full know how of the Salman Khan and Vivek Oberoi tussle over the stunning Aishwarya!
Dreams Unlimited's Chalte Chalte is one of the biggest hits of the year. Using the same theme as Saathiya it explores life after marriage instead of rolling credits using the wedding scene as the background. The emerging genres impose responsibility on the existing scenarios to reappear after a major over hauling. Ishq Vishq Pyar Vyar was not the first movie to have been based around a college campus. Many onscreen triangles have been etched on that frame but what made this movie was not just the natural look adopted by the actors, but also issues such as teenage sex which seems to be a more pressing issue than avenging your father's death.
Natural has given way to supernatural. From the songless Bhoot that succeeded in living up to its tag line and causing one sleepless night atleast to Darna Mana Hai in which six short stories are narrated under one canopy and by the looks of it the concept appealed so much to the viewers that its sequel Darna Zaroori Hai is on its way to the cinema houses.
Even the most diehard Indian movie followers were sceptical of Koi Mil Gaya being a solid hit. Rumours ranged from Hrithik being the alien to the spaceship carrying him off to the fifth or sixth planet - projecting it as a film that might not click with the Indian audience at the end of the day. But international expertise as well as a mind blowing performance by Hrithik himself has succeeded in quashing all such doubts and as the Roshan clan make their way merrily to the bank they can be rest assured that this experimental venture will be regarded as ground breaker for years to come. Sure the alien and the last song 'Hai Allah' are tacky but the rest of it is at least a good effort in terms of science-fiction.
The fact that India and Pakistan despite sharing the same history and the same resources in the past have turned out to be so different from each other as far as cinematic values are concerned, maybe reasoned with the oft-repeated justification that singing and dancing are part of their culture - and we have always been told by the conservative elements to suppress our creative urges headed in that direction. But whatever the excuse, fact is that post Laagan there seems to be no looking back. Bollywood which was supposed to have gone Hollywood, is not only borrowing from - but lending generously its elements to the more developed industry of Hollywood. Hence it doesn't come as a surprise when a Naseeruddin Shah makes an extraordinary appearance in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or when Heather Graham and Jimi Mistry, dance to the tunes of Indian music in The Guru.
The forthcoming Mumbai Se Ayaa Mera Dost deals with a similar rural theme though its issue (electricity) is more current than land tax. Some films such as Armaan despite a very talented team failed to work at the box office. Reasons could be the slow pace or that fact that promos had revealed it all before release but just as with Dhoop Kinare PTV introduced its audience to life inside a hospital; Bollywood via Honey Irani's script took you in to the life of medical practitioners and the effort should be admired simply because it was unchartered territory previously.
The war or patriotic sagas continue with films ranging from the below mediocre Jaal and Hero to J.P Dutta's LOC which is the final installation of his patriotic trilogy (the earlier ones being Border and Refugee). Most of them are biased and dialogues often lack grey matter in them but unfortunately we continue to make the same mistake in Lollywood time and again as well.
Item and stage numbers remain and heroines are still treated as sex symbols more often than not, but using Preity Zinta's role as an example in Koi Mil Gaya, where she is more of a protector than a girlfriend, the tide is turning slowly. Sexuality remains a selling factor but with films like Jism using it as the principal theme it no longer needs to be covered in lashes of rain or be symbolised by the images of birds and bees.
The Pakistani government has recently reinforced the ban on Indian cable channels, the reason perhaps to protect us from being brainwashed by the culture of saas bahu and etcetera - unfortunately not too unlike ours. But what is ignored is that sales of tapes and DVDs escalate nevertheless. Little girls will still dance to a Kareena number at a mehndi and people will spend Sunday night watching one action hero or the other take on ten men at the same time.
Two separate nations with different ideologies and identities yet many cultural similarities. But even if the films that they make may be as different from each other as chalk from cheese, we share similar audiences at least for our creations. So while Salman romances with Bhumika Chawla in the latest Tere Naam and our audience getting vicarious thrills watching it, So much for the change in hearts and minds.
