Thinkin' ain't necessarily acting
Even the threat of death by a thousand cuts can't drag me to a Bollywood movie. But when I hear that Ghajini looks set to clinch the title of biggest cinematic opening of Bollywood, I am pleased. After all, is there a better actor than Aamir in Bollywood? Never mind, there ain't no 'acting' in Bollywood.The little I've heard of Aamir (on TV), he comes across as a 'thinker'. Guess, that's a good thing and guess that gets translated into his movies. And again, guess viewers take to it. The original Ghajini stars Surya, and though I haven't seen either, something tells me Surya's the better actor. That's 'cos Aamir's too much the thinker.
Contrast the Aamirian style with what Director Priyadarshan has to say about Kerala superstar Mohanlal's acting style, "He never prepares for any role or scene. He is not bothered how he looks or what he does. Once the camera is on, he is a transformed person. As he does only one film at a time, he knows everything about the film, nothing more."
Comments
India, movies, and in particular Bollywood movies, have been a big
part of my early life. Those movies are now a part of the memory that
is reserved by Indian expatriates to miss and despise alternatively.
Most Indian movies are fairy tales, and fairy tales in popular culture
are for two things: to highlight a moral value and escape the burdens
of reality. Both of these have been the driving forces in the majority
of our larger than life Hindi movies.
Our movies have every unreal thing which v believe! People dancing on the street? Yes. The hero taking in a dozen bullets
and driving to the next city in time for his wife's delivery? Yes. A
beautiful woman lying on alpine snows wearing nothing but a silk
saree? Oh, yeah. A thirty-five-year-old actor playing a college
student? Check. Bad actors with big biceps becoming huge stars? Yes.
It's like we have been in the 80s for the last 40 years.
We don't mind if our stories or dialogues are corny. Subtlety in
Bollywood is like modesty in corporate America.
But here is a Bollywood rival for Hollywood..Slumdog Millionaire!!!
Slumdog Millionaire is a fairy tale as well. But it's what a fairy
tale would be if David Simon wrote one.
Like the best things to come out of Bollywood, it is
tough enough to have corny lines like, "I will wait at the V.T.
station every day until you come." It is also crisply edited,
beautifully shot and, unlike most Indian movies, it takes care of the
small things. In one scene supporting actor is shown picking up a used water
bottle from the trash, filling it with tap water and gluing the cap on
it so that he can re-sell it as mineral water. A lesser movie would
have shown him selling it but Boyle lets the viewer guess it.
Influenced from Bollywood flicks like Satya, Black friday, has the technical
superiority of a Hollywood movie. The soundtrack, even though it's
very Indian, is more diverse and very modern.
Still vent seen Ghazini :( I will watch tmrw n may b tht ll b d rite tym to comment!
But it's nice to see Indian cinema performing better than it ever did!
Thank you for all you comments...most appreciate it...keep 'em goin', hoping u find the time...
I don't quite agree to 'Most Indian movies are fairy tales'....
I guess you mean Bollywood movies...In fact the malayalam movies I grew up on...late eighties and early nineties were taken out of real life...no fantasy there...they were brilliant and they presented 'phases outta life' in a manner that was 'tasteful', provoking one to be thoughtful...no melodrama, crass humour, spinal cord breakin, pelvis shatterin' jigs,...
Bollywood surely has its place in Indian Cultural history...tho' again I shudder to call it 'Indian'...I mean it doesn't represent India in its entirety....
As to whether Bollywood highlights moral values...dunno...the jury is still out on that....
Thank you for your appreciation. Glad that you like it n I always have time for something that adds to my learning process..n I comment or not..bt I follow your blog regularly! A one stop shop for a learner like mee..!!!
I very much meant it as Indian movies bt the point to be stressed upon is “Most” and not “Indian” and the kind of movies you are talking abt are few, in comparison to the stuff which is ubiquitous in Indian cinema.
Nice to see movies like “Fashion” where the protagonist isn’t morally n ethically correct bt thn movies like this r jst handful!
And Ghazini was a big tym disaster..Mr. Perfectionist took 1 year just for replicating the tamil version..God bless Indian Cinema!!!