A letter to my uncle...

...written about four months ago. I present it here without comment.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000818/REVIEWS/8180303/1023

A review of the movie 'The Cell' directed by another budding Indian Hollywood director, Tarsem Singh. He doesn't have as much hype surrounding him as Shyamalan, but he seems pretty good, at least going by what Ebert says (I haven't watched the movie myself).

I sent you this review because I thought it illustrated a point I was trying to make over the phone, about Indian movies degenerating into the sort of vapid nonsense that movies like 'Neal 'N Nikki', 'Kaliyug', 'Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon' exemplify. In the last lines of the review, Ebert asks ' Is it possible that the next infusion of creativity will come from cultures like India, still rich in imagination, not yet locked into malls?'

Too late, I say. If we weren't 'locked into malls' in 2000 (when the review was written) we certainly are now, and while there's nothing 'wrong' with that, it's still discouraging. Why haven't our filmmakers incorporated into our moviemaking the eclecticism that countries like Japan and Korea and China seem to routinely incorporate into theirs? Why can't they get out movies that handle our culture gracefully, and with pride? Why do we have to be subjected to the same 'boy meets girl' formula over and over again, which works about three times out of a hundred ( I use the word 'works' here in the sense of 'breaks even')?

I'll tell you why. (Yes, I'm going to answer all my rhetorical questions). It's because they're timid. They think that if they make one movie that requires more attention-span than the average movie-goer possesses, they will lose all their money and credibility. And they're right, they probably will. It's why more people have heard of Karan 'KANK' Johar than Nagesh Kukunoor.


If all this seems a bit abstract, take an example--Rang de Basanti. Critically acclaimed movie, great box office hit, all that. My problem with it - and this is something I can't get anyone to see, much less agree with - is that it's too easy. You have all these drunken inebriated assholes who suddenly take a 180 degree turn to face martyrdom because their friend died. 2+2 = 4. Get it? Except that in real life, it's *never* that easy. There's no way ordinary people can get themselves worked up enough to murder someone who may or may not have been responsible. You need more than a friend's death to be able to kill someone else with moral impunity.

And then there's the whole massacre thing in the end, which signifies--what, exactly? That we are a police state? That the media is stifled in our country? No one knows, but no one cares, because, hey, Aamir Khan is dying. Dead, already.

Whatever. Here's my theory on how this thing could have been written. The director, or scriptwriter, or whoever, says, 'Hey, I have this great idea. Aamir Khan dies in the end. Let's think of a good way to extract cheap emotion from the audience.' And a great story is born. The thing that infuriates me most is that people actually identified with the story, and 'got' it. Are we so disconnected with our emotions that we need to be told stories that make logical sense?

To an extent, I realize that all this is the natural course of things. I realize that mainstream media needs to sellout if it needs to sustain itself. I realize that many people go to the movies to be entertained, to be told what to feel. I realize that most people watch movies not expecting to make any significant emotional investment. What I do not realize, however, is why Bollywood (the name itself suggests a sellout of epic proportions. Hollywood was perhaps a wood of hollies before the 'h' was capitalized; but what in God's name is a 'Bolly'?) needs to sellout more than most other film industries in the world. It's more of a travesty because we have such a rich culture and so many untold stories that deserve telling, and so many stories that need a more impartial retelling.

Anyway, this email is dangerously close to becoming one of my self-righteous rants (maybe it already is one, so sue me), so I'll sign off here.

Me.