We
Indians love to exaggerate. Gandhi is not only Bapu but Mahatma also. It is not
enough that Patel is Sardar, he has to be called Lauh Purush too. Tagore is
Guru and Dev both - together. Nehru was Chacha... Thank god he was not called
Mamu also!! Even Indira Gandhi who mothered (politically also), the thuggish Sanjay
Gandhi was called Durga!!!
The
film Industry in India is, arguably, the most powerful expression of popular
culture. Our movies amplified the unreal so much that it became an escape from
reality. Our heroines knew nothing except purity, virtue and sacrifice. They
fell in love with men like Sunny Deol who took on the entire Pakistani State
all by himself in Gadar. That love gave them so much warmth that they could
gyrate in skimpy clothes on the frozen lakes of snow-capped Alps.
The
movies made by Benegals and Nihlanis in late seventies and eighties on real
issues were called parallel cinema. Escape was the mainstream. Nineties was the
Zenith of escapist Cinema. Kitsch was at its pinnacle in Karan Johar combining
with Shahrukh Khan and making Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam where Shahrukh Khan was so
good at not acting. Karan Johar and Shahrukh Khan, by achieving so much success
with such sloppy escapist work, epitomized the mediocrity which thrives in
every other sphere in our society. No other combo has achieved such success
with such shallow delivery except, possibly, the director and actor combo of
Sonia and Manmohan.
The
last decade though, has been a welcome change. The emergence of directors like
Vishal Bhardwaj, Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap, Tigmanshu Dhulia, and the
likes have given us stories of real people. They have got rare acting talents
like Irfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui to give flesh and blood to these real
people and not rouge and mascara of the escapist cinema.
Their
movies, in their attempt to discover reality, have taken us deeper into layers
of our existence which is good, bad and ugly at the same time. In our daily
existence, we attempt to ignore the unpleasant or sweep our passions – good or
evil - under the carpet. Their work has tried to show us the mirror. They are
fascinating because they tell us about the most unpredictable story, the real
Life. Watching the filth of hinterland has made us more lively.The imported
beauty of Swiss locations was numbing us.
Bombay
Talkies is a unique joint effort of different directorial talents. Anurag Kashyap,
Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar and Dibakar Banerjee tell us four separate stories
combined by a common thread in celebration of hundred years of Indian Cinema.
Dibakar
Benerjee has adapted a short story of Satyajit Ray. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a
failed actor who cannot even get the job of a security guard. Telling stories
would have been his vocation if he had stuck to acting. However, he looked for
the safety of a job, landed nowhere and is not even able to tell a story to his
daughter. He finds an opportunity to do a tiny role by accident. He gets in
touch with his lost soul and finds the story of his life.
Zoya
Akhtar takes up the riveting conflict of desires of a middle class father and
his tiny son about the latter’s future. The father wants him to play football
and be Macho. The tender hearted kid wants to dance with effeminate moves. The
stage is set for a pulsating story but it splutters when the story moves to the
kid’s fascination about Katrina Kaif.
Karan
Johar deals with the complex topic of bisexuality of a married man in a hard
hitting manner. The background of the song “Lag Ja Gale” creates artistic
tension. I am still grappling, whether, the use of this lovely old song was to
soothe the nerves or to inflame passions! The pain of your most tender passions
being in conflict with social norms is portrayed touchingly. A brush with reality
can change Karan Johar. Karan, Please leave Shahrukh and Firang locations. Go
to Kalahandi or Gorakhpur and tell us some beautiful stories which you seem to
be capable of.
Anurag
Kashyap tells the fantastical story of the obsession of a father-son duo from
Allahabad about the Mega Star Amitabh Bachan. Anurag’s story is the weakest
link of the battery. Is it so because he is not in his familiar territory of
reality and has gotten into fantasy?
Dibakar
Banerjee’s story is the true celebration of a hundred years of Indian cinema.
Dibakar seems to be perfecting his art in his fifth movie. He shows almost
complete command over the medium and gives a flawless treatment to a beautiful
story. This is expected from somebody who has made Khosla Ka Ghsola, Oye Lucky!
Lucky Oye!, Love Sex & Dhokha and Shanghai.
