"I think we should all accept that Bollywood just doesn't work there. There's all this talk of crossover films. Lagaan came close to being a crossover, but really, we've come nowhere on the scale of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. That was a huge commercial success, but we aren't even close to critical praise, with films like Y Tu Mama Tambien, or Amores Perros."
Attaboy. If all our papers and our media stopped the fawning publicity, we'd *maybe* get to a point where we are realistic about this. Let's accept the fact that mainstream Bollywood fare is a niche audience, and will appeal mainly to Indians, either at home or abroad. Ramanand also made a good point about how Indian(read: hindi) cinema is changing, but it's change from the outside by people who are considered outsiders. While SLB making Black without songs is a big deal for many people, wasn't it over 5 years ago that RGV made Kaun without songs?
And the killer:
"(Chadha's Bend It Like) Beckham was a British film, with some characters of Indian origin. It's not an Indian film. Why must we always appropriate? Why do we suddenly start claiming (M Night) Shyamalan as one of ours (laughs) when the poor man hasn't had anything to do with India for most of his life? Why do we want to bask in their glory?"
Tell it like it is, Ashvin Kumar. We need more of your type in the industry, to make some real hatke films.
1 comment:
If there are enough people to watch and appreciate, film makers will make such films.
Liked his quote, " ..Why must we always appropriate?" The Indian media happily claim anything remotely Indian as our own.
Post a Comment