Movie Blog
October 18th, 2009
Won’t it be great to see two great legendary actors in the same movie? This is certainly not a big deal in Bollywood, many top actors don’t mind being in the spotlight with other shining-stars, be it Amitabh, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, or Hirthik Roshan, they are fine with it. But it is a rare occasion in the south. I still don’t understand why Kollywood haven’t figured this out yet? Think about MGR and Shivaji or Kamal and Rajini in the same movie, won’t it be great?
Here is what I think….
- I think Bollywood is more matured business than Kollywood. No doubt the southern cinema industry is getting there. I also Bollywood really understands star-power and it’s value better. The more the stars, the more the cost and returns. Whereas, Kollywood doesn’t think that way. It is way too far expensive in Kollywood to have Kamal and Rajini act in the same movie but the revenues upside is limited.
- Bollywood stars are lot more open-minded than Kollywood. Many Bollywood stars don’t mind sharing the limelight, whereas in Kollywood, each hero, doesn’t matter they have been in the industry for 50 years or they just did one movie, they think that they have their own fans and they need to cater to them specifically. Every small bacha to an established actor convey their own message. They many be only 16 years old and it may be their first movie, but they talk as if they spent their whole life in the movies and dish out advices to everyone. I think it will be very hard to have two heroes dishing out advices in the same movie.
- Bollywood certainly produces as many movies as Kollywood or more. But if you see the trend of Bollywood movies, many of them act in the movie or in other words, they know it is their profession and try to do their job. Very rarely Bollywood actors communicate their self-opinion or inform others about their entry into politics. I don’t disagree that some Bollywood heroes entered politics. but you should see Kollywood, almost all established heroes in Kollywood have entered politics. Most of them aspire to Cheif Minister of Tamil Nadu. Some failed and some succeeded. Even young actors in Kollywood who might have just entered the industry already talk about entering politics and becoming Cheif Minister of the state. Some times you should listen to their advices and their way of communicating their message, It is beyond crap. Trust me, I have no issues in anyone entering politics, I think it is in their own self-interest but almost all Kollywood heroes use the silver screen to communicate their own political messages. I think we all have passed that but the Kollywood heroes haven’t yet.
- Big budget is a big factor. Bollywood certainly has more budget than Kollywood. Yes, there are certain directors like Shankar who gets and makes a lot of money. But that’s an exception. But if you look at the overall capital invested in Bollywood is much higher than Kollywood. Availability of budget limits the number of heroes in a movie.
- Language limitation is an issue too. Lot more people speak Hindi than regional languages like Tamil or Telugu. So automatically, the reach of the Bollywood movies is high. Also, every movie in the Kollywood is written for a specific hero and they cannot think of sharing the screen with others.
Now, let me hear from you. What do you think?
Tags: Aamir Khan, Amitabh, Director Shankar, Hirthik Roshan, Kamal Haasan, Mani Ratnam, Rajini Kanth, Shah Rukh Khan
Posted in Blogger View, Bollywood (Hindi) | No Comments »
September 20th, 2009
The world wide website mania has spread in all directions. We can live without food and water but not without Internet. A hunter uses a net to catch birds, they are handicapped in a way, but we the people are handicapped without the net and that is THE INTERNET. Though the whole of Indian crowd may not be able to access still there is a lot done through the internet and is progressing well. How much of this net is connecting Indian Cinema to the people. Does it have only positives or has a negative side,
Come on let’s hunt…
Indian Cinema is considered by and large close to Hollywood in terms of technology improvement and standards.
The internet is used as a means for promoting films, advertisement and serves as a complete database for this entertainment industry. Stretching beyond chatting and browsing, internet is like a separate service industry for the silver screen.
The information about a particular movie right from the selection of cast, title and all other startup info can be known through internet by way of many websites just in few seconds from when it has been even uttered.
Many Bollywood stars have used this medium effectively to reach out to their fans and keep themselves connected, be it Amithabh Bachan or Sharukh Khan or Aamir Khan.They communicate with the large crowd (blogging) share their ideas and views along with their fans. This is really creating a big buzz and has become most popular with many stars and in a way helped them to advertise well about their forthcoming movies. For the fans it is becoming very interesting to connect to stars directly and also gather as much as information about everything in the limelight.
Gone are the days where we had to wait for the song cassettes to be released and then hear the songs, we can hear The Then AND Now songs online or any song to our choice, the complete listings are available free of cost with all the latest digital sound effects. For the people who love to sing, can try to sing like the original track singers by using the Karaoke and record their voice and enjoy. The movies which we may have missed in the big screen can always be viewed in leisure.
Internet is a tool connecting people and stars. Every production unit has a separate website and is loaded with lots of information.
The youth of today are tech savvy and with this they know the latest trends in modern day cinema.
There is lot to do in the websites as some of them provide space to showcase young talents and give an opportunity to contest and make way for a new beginning be it acting or for people who love to work behind the camera.
The growth is in express speed for some just a click on the mouse.
But every positive move has some negative side too.
First and foremost there are too many websites and tools online, at times may be misused, copywrited or duplicated. There is opportunity for selling things online without a proper license and authority.
It is quite natural for people to watch a movie online but when the movie has been pirated and CD’s distributed then it is a sprain on the production houses and theatres as their main income includes the distribution and collections after the screening.
Whether it is Bollywood or Tollywood industry the real joy of watching a new movie is only in theatres, use internet as an informative and developmental tool, better not to get caught in the net.
Tags: Aamir Khan, Amitabh, internet, new bollywood movies, Shah Rukh Khan
Posted in Blogger View, Bollywood (Hindi) | No Comments »
August 22nd, 2009
Author: Srividya
Dilip Kumar- 1944-1998
Meena Kumari-1952-66
Dev Anand- 1946-78
Asha Parekh- 1959-73
Raj Kapoor- 1947-71
Jaya Bachchan- 1971-81
Sanjeev Kumar- 1960-80
Zeenat Aman- 1972-89
Rajesh Khanna- 1966- 1980
Parveen Babi- 1973- 82
Amitabh Bachchan- 1969- to present
Sridevi- 1976-97
Anil Kapoor- 1979 to present
Tina Munim- 1978-91
Sanjay Dutt- 1981 to present
Amrita Singh- 1983-93
Sunny Deol- 1983-2007
Madhuri Dixit- 1984-02
Aamir Khan- 1988 to present
Neelam- 1984-99
Salman Khan- 1988 to present
Manisha Koirala- 1989-03
Shahrukh Khan-1992- to present
Karisma Kapoor-1991-03
Saif Ali Khan- 1993 to present
Kajol- 1992-2001
What you see above is a career graph of some of the best known names in hindi cinema. You might notice the difference in the span of career, with the men enjoying long and fruitful innings at the box office. The women, on the other hand, seem to spend, anywhere between 10 to 15 years, on an average in cinema. This disparity begs the question, “Why do heroes enjoy a longer life in cinema than the heroines”.
I have a few theories.
1. The audience demands more in terms of appearance from a heroine than a hero.
A hero could be old, balding, over weight, have pouches under his eyes that even the best make up does not hide and yet he is accepted by the audience. The heroine has only to put on a little weight or to be subjected to an unflattering camera angle when she is written off. Enough has been said about Manisha Koirala’s weight gain, at the cost of her acting skills. But Govinda can still dance no matter how overweight he might be. Shahrukh Khan can play a college kid mo matter what his age is, but we look at actresses and say, my god old enough for mother roles, why does she want to be a lead?
2. Some heroines choose the easy way
The easy way is to bare all, and again the audience seems to enjoy skin show- think Mallika Sherawat and Amrita Arora. But skin shows also tend to be tiresome after a while, which means actresses who got into cinema with this USP find themselves at a loss. The irony is that the actors are in on this aspect of ‘acting’ too-Salman Khan is known to take his shirt off at the slightest whim, Hritik Roshan’s well toned physique made a movie like Dhoom-2 watchable, Shahrukh Khan gave the term ‘six pack’ a whole new meaning and Aamir Khan carried Ghajini on his well worked out shoulders. And yet, it is not a prerequisite that they shed their clothes, if they do it, that’s a bonus. But for the women, the revealing clothes, the rain sequence and so on, almost seem mandatory.
3. Marriage
The age old idea that married women are to be venerated, pretty much means the death knell for actresses who choose marriage over movies. The public is comfortable with a much married, old-enough-to-have-grandkids- actor, but a heroine who is married doesn’t sell at the box office. So much so that wildly successful actresses like Kajol and Madhuri Dixit do not make a big impact with their ‘come back’ films.
4. It’s just a job
While acting seems to be a life choice, even for unsuccessful actors who refuse to give up, for the women maybe its about work till they can do something else. It could be interior design , like Twinkle Khanna, or jewellery design like Neelam. Whatever their career, the women probably know that while movies are important, there is only so much that one can do in the business.
5. It’s all about the hero
How many movies are heroines centric anyway? The hero is the main focus of the film and the heroine only serves as a foil. That might explain the short shelf life of an actress.
Who knows how many more Pakeezahs we might have seen? Or witnessed more of the raw talent of Jaya Bahaduri had she not retired? But I take heart from the fact that we have heroines who have lasted a long time- Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta, Shabana Azmi. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel after all
Tags: Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Asha Parekh, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Heroes and Longivity, Jaya Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Manisha Koirala, Meena Kumari, Parveen Babi, Raj Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Salman Khan, Sanjeev Kumar, Shah Rukh Kha, Sunny Deol, Zeenat Aman
Posted in Blogger View, Bollywood (Hindi) | 1 Comment »
August 15th, 2009
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life….. Is an old Saying but is it true now days in the case of Film songs….
To understand the birth of ‘remix’, we will have to rewind in time and examine the evolution of film music. The Dawn of the Indian film industry was very fruitful. In the early days, the film world was dominated by musicians, the accent was on the primacy of singing / singer…remember the days of musicals with 14-15 songs in a movie. The numbers of the regional films were much lower, but the orientation towards music was similar. This period was notable for a number of major artists. Music directors such as Pankaj Mullick, Keshavrao Bhole, and Anil Biswas were a few who shined with their classical touch in film music.
 
It is interesting to note that this early period did not favor “playback” singers. Many of the original actors and actresses sang their own songs. From that time on formula music became the norm. Tunes / compositions became important. This era had mythological films with the classical form of Indian music like Ghazals, Bhagans, devotional songs that not only were apt for the situation but also added message to the society.
In the dawn of the 50’s and 60’s western music made his entry into films in the name of “Light Music”. But care was taken by the legends that the songs don’t lose their nativity. This period is also significant for the introduction of the “playback” singer. Many notable playback singers came to prominence during this period. There were a few new music directors to make it big. Naushad, O.P. Nayyar, Kalyanji Anandji, R.D. Burman and Lakshmikant-Pyarelal in north and K.V.Mahadevan, M.S.Viswanathan, V.Kumar, Sankar- Ganesh, Illayaraja are a few who would make their way into the business in a big way during this period. Major change was brought by the maestro king who gave offbeat musical hits with his village nativity songs. This was the period; melody was at its glory.
As the 80’s came upon us, the music directors grew more powerful and the emergence of song banks took place. At the early 00’s film music has become a Jarring one to a certain extent where the Lyrics are not audible and the lip movements are not noticeable. Then came the era of high decibel rhythm based music, tune and lyrics weren’t as important as the rhythm. Now what we are witnessing is an extension of this rhythm focused music in a new avatar or should we say ‘old wine bottled new form’ – remix.
There are two simple formulas as far as remix goes – one is that every movie should have a remix and two is that there should be rapping in between to make it contemporary. Call me old fashioned, but my fundamental objection to remix is simply this – a song from the past that is etched in the memories of millions of people is no longer the domain of the just the original composer / producer, it is in the domain of music lovers. These memories and the associations that come with it, and it will be intruded rather rudely by this unwelcome, new fangled thing called remix. Secondly, there was a time when using other’s composition wasn’t received kindly. Remember Anu Malik, Deva and the likes…one was quite used to listening to Hindi / English compositions in Tamil or vice versa…and now with remix we have found ways to legalize that.
And lastly, in the context of music becoming common – what works in Tamil, Telugu works in Hindi as well with equal ease – the regional, local nuances are fast disappearing. The quantum of original compositions is diminishing and if you add remixes to that it becomes even worse. Where is creativity? …
Soon, we will have specialist re-mixers who will do the studio rounds asking for chance with their demo tape of remixed songs and we will have the distinction of having created a new breed called re-mix directors. We can’t call them music directors, can we? But then the film world will probably say that they are being sensitive to an issue that is globally relevant, recycling!!
Tags: indian cinema music, remix
Posted in Blogger View, Bollywood (Hindi) | No Comments »
August 15th, 2009
Laughter is the best medicine. It is healthy. It is relaxing. It keeps people fresh. From the time of Charlie Chaplin till date commercial cinema has given comedy the foremost preference to entertain people. It is hard to keep our lips-locked when Chaplin is in action. Tom and Jerry attracted people of all ages. Indian Cinema too has seen some of the best comedians’ right from the time of silent movies until date and has been remembered among the best along with international stars.
But when we compare how comedy is been conducted has changed drastically over the period of time. Don’t you feel that? I feel that the quality of humor has degraded over a period of time and become more of a boredom with its repeated-ness. I would like to take a step back and analyze the situation little bit more deeper…come with me…
The infamous N.S. Krishnan a.k.a Kalaivanar, The Charlie Chaplin of Indian made people laungh with great empathy. His career started on with villupattu (a local folk music) where he used to recite stories by way of songs. He progressed to stage artist and comedy was his main act, and later into Tamil Cinema. He was well known for his unique style and always conveyed social messages thru comedy. He made people think about inequalities in life and superstitious beliefs.
Kalaivanar acted in overall 150+ movies in his career. His roles in Nallathambi, Ragoon Radha, Ambikapathy, and Madhurai Veeran were examples of his great performances. He also directed few movies like Panam and Manamagal. we can never forget his comical songs “sirrippu” from Raja Raani and Tina-Muna-Kanna from Panam. The early death of this great actor brought an abrupt end to his career.
No discussion will be in comedy will be complete without the legendary comedian Nagesh. Every movie from Nagesh was remarkable and it will be hard to call out some movie from the long list of his movies.A movie which will always remain in our minds is Server Sundaram which gave him the break as a character artist and also saw K Balachander as a successful director. It is believed to be more close to Nagesh’s life as the story quite similar to his real life, a rag to riches story.
His role in Thillana Mohanambal and Thiruvilaiyadal were highlights in his career. Dharmi in Thiruvilayadal was a superb performance alongside Shivaji Ganesan and is believed that Shivaji itself could not control his laughter on the sets and had to give many takes while shooting. He acted alongside Manorama in most of the movies and she is believed to be the best lady comedian in Kollywood till date.
Such was his witty expressions and in this decade too he had done wonders in comedy track and one of Kamal Hasan’s favourite. His most villany role was in Apporva Sahodarargal and was quite a surprise that a person who could make millions of people laugh could also make them feel he is the bad man. Nagesh also played supporting role in Thilly Mulu with Super Star Rajni and many such roles in AvaiShanmugi, Panchatantram and Dasavatharam the last one but never the least surely another actor is to be born to fill his place.
 
The LAUREL AND HARDY of Kollywood Goundamani-Senthil is an inseparable pair on screen who ruled Kollywood and shared the screen with every actor of this era. Be it Rajni, Kamal, Kartik, Arjun, Prabhu or Satyaraj they have given a different definition to comedy and are the best liked pair in comedy till date. Though they have also done individual comedy tracks in separate movies they always seem to look like the Tom and Jerry series one always running from the other and always putting each other into trouble. A total rib tickling slapstick comedy, the most famous one is from Karakattakaran, Chinna gounder,Ullathai allitha, Vaidegi Kaththirunthal and many more. The duo is expected to come back in Jaggubhai, which is expected to release at the end of this year. They have nearly ruled the comedy track for two decades and still going on.
 
The Two V’S were the next to rock the Tamil film industry. Vivek and Vadivelu started their career almost on the same time. Vaigai puyal Vadivelu stormed the industry with his slapsticks and puns. His comical dialogues are very famous and even tiny tots keep murmuring them now and then. His roles in Singaravelan, Devar Magan, Muthu, Winner, and Chandramukhi are a few we can always remember.His emotional role in Em Magan alongside Bharath gave him a different dimension and versatality.The mega blockbuster was Imsai Arasan 23RD Pulekesi were he did a dual role as a hero and conquered all biggies and was a threat to other upcoming heroes.
Vivek known as Chinna Kalaivanar was more like NSK but his comedy was more of a satirist than slapstick. The topics he covered were mainly about bribery, over population, and corruption and has always mentioned about our former President Dr.Abdul Kalam and his vision about the future India. His roles in Khushi, Run, Minnale, and Shivaji were a few from the many best performances.
 
The two V’S are still trying to give their best but seeing them repeatedly with similar themes has given rise to many other young artists. Karnas was one comedian who followed Vivek but was basically a pop singer and also sang folk music. His roles in Nanda and Pithamagan gave him a break and today he has rose to doing a hero role as in Dindugal Sarathy. Now Santhanam is seen with all the younger generation.
There’s no doubt that Comedy is seen as a key ingredient in Kollywood. Comedians have special place in our heart. But can these young comedians be like their mentors and rule the Kollywood comedy world? Can we see comedy which remains in our mind for a while and do not just slip of once we are out of the theatre? If comedians concentrate on what they can do best and let heroes do their part then surely the jokes will be received well and will not just be a mere silly show.
Let us know what you think?
Tags: Kalaivanar, Karunas, Kollywood, Nagesh, NSK, Santhanam, Tamil Cinema Comedy, Vadively, Vivek
Posted in Hot Updates, Kollywood (Tamil) | No Comments »
July 30th, 2009
Author: Anuradha
Lately in Bollywood, Kollywood, and Tollywood, big budget movies create more buzz than others. Even before they are released or even when they are half-complete, there’s so much hype about them. Only a very few directors and actors figured out a way to keep it quiet. The fact remains that negative and positive results may not have anything to do with the money spent. Sadly enough some producers willingly spend the money to make big budget movies, and some are pained.
  
Let’s take a quick look at the history, starting with MUGHAL-E-AZAM — the speculation at that time was that the palatial locations and artistic jewellery might have cost about Rs.1.5 Crores. Adding more pain to the budget, it also took nine years to bring it on the silver screen. But it struck gold and was the highest grosser in the 1960-70. One can argue that the success of muguhal-e-azam was mostly due to the strong story and well portrayed characters by Dilip Kumar, Prithviraj Kapoor and Madhubala.
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Later in 1975, the notable big budget film was, the infamous, ever-green “Sholay” produced by G P Sippy. The total cost of the movie was 2 Crores. Sholay remains evergreen in the history of Indian cinema and arguably the Best Movie in Fifty years. The characters played by Dharmendar, Sanjeev Kumar, Amithabh Bachan, Jaya Bhadhuri, Hemamalini, and Amjad Khan is still fresh in people’s mind. It was a big budget and big success movie.
In recent times, Aamir Khan’s Ghajini, a Geetha Arts production approximately cost Rs.65 Crores. It also earned Rs. 180 Crores in the box-office. This movie was promoted effectively and it was a good re-make from its original version in Tamil. Another big success for big budget.
 
But if you see the underline theme of some of the big budget successes, they are mostly due to marketing, acting, screenplay, strong story, and other aspects, not really because lot of money was spent. There are many films which create a rage before release and vanish away from the theatre before we realize. For example, Saawariya, the estimated budget was Rs.40 crores. Saawariya was a youthful love story and had good music. It was directed by Sanjay Leela Bansali, who directed some great hits such as, Black, Devdas, and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam before. Ranbir Kapoor was introduced in this movie. Even with all the star power, budget, and marketing, the movie did not do well in the box-office. Few other examples would be, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom starring Lara Dutta - Abhishek and Preity Zinta - Bobby Deol. We can never forget the hype created for Tashan another movie with Chopra banner which was a much awaited movie starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena and Saif Ali Khan. Drona was a movie which was compared to Harry Potter series special effects done by EyeQube. Drona disputably failed in the box-office due to weak story line and our sources say that the box-office collection was roughly 2 crores only. There is a long list of “big budget” movies that had the same destiny. The magic never happened for these movies and within a week of release the box-office collections drastically dropped down. What’s wrong? Why does this happen?
  
Let’s take a quick look at Kollywood. Rolling back the time-clock, everyone in the Tamil film industry would still remember, Chandralekha. It had many events to remember like the dancing on drums and fighting sequence. It took five years to make this movie. It was the first Tamil movie that was distributed nation-wide and it was the most expensive movie produced at that time. Even though the box-office collection information is unknown still, it was a huge hit.
During the MGR and Shivaji Ganesan’s era many big budget movies were made and successful mostly due to the fact that the masses loved the heroes. Puratchi Thalaivar MGR shared the screen with beautiful heroines and grand sets designed for him specially. Whereas Shivaji Ganesan was very much focused on exhibiting is acting skills and acted in a broad range of rolls. But people in south nearly worshipped these heroes and this contributed to their films success. Some notable movies are,
M.G.R’s Ullagam Sutrum Valiban. Ullagam Sutrum Valiban was shot across the world. It had song sequences in Singapore, Hong Kong, and in many other locations. The cost of the movie remains unknown still but one can easily imagine
MGR must have spent his fortune. Some big grossers of his time were Nadodi Mannan, Adimai Penn and Aayirathil Oruvan.
 
During the Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan era, the industry continued to produce big budget movies. It is speculated that, Rajinikanth was paid Rs. 75 Lakhs by Chiranjeevi for his movie “Maapillai”. Billa where he did a dual role was a super hit grossing Rs.5 crores, a remake of Don. Just like Don was remade in Hindi, Billa has been remade with Ajit as the Hero. Mannan was another movie opening in grand style and hit 15 crores in the box office. Baasha and Padayappa were movies which almost sweeped all the credit by earning more than 35 crores. Though the exact budget is unknown we have seen that most of the Super star movies succeeded in grand style. But as a producer Rajinkanth has failed to give hits. His movies Valli and Baaba did not do well in the box-office.
Padma Shri Kamal Haasan too has experimented a lot and seen both sides in the film industry. A multi talented actor who has given many hits doing unique roles and has a long list of awards to his side. From Apporva raagangal to Dasaavatharam, every role he played, he lived in them and performed to perfection. Yet another actor is to be born to perform like he did in Apporval sahodargal or in Micheal Madana Kamarajan or in Dasavatharam doing 10 roles more than what Chevalier Shivaji Ganesan did in his super hit movie Navarathri. As a producer he has never stopped taking risks of giving something different each time but he has failed to see many hits, this may not be due to budget or his poor performance but may be due to other factors like the subject which is not been received well by the mass.
 
But the “big budget” fever stuck the Kollywood industry when Director Shankar and Maniratnam entered the industry. Mani Ratnam along with his production unit Madras Talkies got a big breakthrough in Mouna Raagam (5 crores) which was a milestone in Tamil cinema and won many accolades. Another big grosser was Agni Natchatiram (10 crores). Then his famous “Roja”, which was a starter for oscar winner Isai Puyal AR Rahman. This movie packed of with 20 crores and still a remarkable film in his diary. Though his movies were not shot in foreign locations, but he is a ‘perfectionist’ so he is known for taking longer than planned to complete his artistic work.
On the other hand, Director Shankar who is well known for making movies with social/political themes, had a series of Blockbusters like Kadhalan, Indian, Jeans, Mudhalvan, Boys, Shivaji the Boss, and now, Endhiran. The numbers we heard from the industry is that, Shankar spent 19 crores for Jeans, 25 crores for Mudhalvan, and 60 crores for Shivaji – The Boss. He is expected to spend 150 crores for his upcoming Endhiran, his second movie with Superstar Rajinikanth. Shivaji-The Boss broke all records and for the fans of Superstar Rajni it was a real treat. Our sources say that the box-office collection of
Shivaji – The boss exceeded over 400 crores. Of all his movies, except Boys, almost every one of them made him and producers money. He somehow managed to make successful big budget films so far. Certainly not only luck, lot of credit goes to Shankar and his crew for their dedication, thought process, and ability to execute.
In the mean time, many small budget movies in Kollywood made history, Kadhal, Subramaniyapuram - budget of less than a crore saw a gross earning of 10 crores. I strongly feel that these movies had something fresh with new talented actors and a strong story and emotional performance ,which people love to watch. Parutheeveeran was another movie which made history with 10 crores and was a blockbuster hitting more than 40 crores.
Why is there a swing in success and failure irrespective of the budget, castings, and all the hype as the movie arrives on to the screen… Well the judgment is in the hands of the millions of people who are watching them. A menu served with the right starters, a proper main course, and with the best dessert will give the film fraternity a royal treat. Being just expensive does not make it tasty. Do you agree?
Tags: Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Big Budget Movies, Bollywood movies, Director Mani Ratnam, Director Shankar, Kollywood movies
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
July 22nd, 2009
Author: Anuradha
A long time ago, the Indian women were greatly respected for their attire, especially the Saree. For those who feel a six yards saree is too much to wrap up with should also know that olden days women in the southern part of India used to wear a nine yards saree. A whole lot of people in the present day feel that the six yards is a bit too old fashioned.
Why is this so…?
The changing trend in Indian Cinema costume has had a huge impact on the modern day style and fashion. Some positive. Some negative. The cinema is now the Indian Milan for fashion. Also, all the latest fashion make us wonder if sometimes these artists have not got enough clothing to wear or couldn’t afford to buy cloths. Sometimes it looks like they are buying more expensive clothes for tube tops and micro mini dresses.
  
Wearing less clothing or nudity is not very new in Indian movies, it’s been there for a while but the big difference is that, nudity or less clothing never was driver to get people to come to movies. The actors had to have more talent than a nice body and less clothing. The skin show became a little known during the Kapoor Era. From there on this became trendy, because of the censor board there were a few omissions but few allowed. The costume were designed as wanted for a particular script. Nowadays whether the script and story needs nudity or skimpy clothes it has become a fashion and traditional clothing has taken a long vacation from the Indian Cinemas.
Now a days, new heroines start their career as contestants in beauty competitions and are already well prepared to wear or not wear too much clothing. They just need to give a big cibaca smile and wear gorgeous costumes and do a little lip movement for the songs and dance to the tunes. We agree there are some exceptions, but less clothing and nudity is more common that full clothing.
  
The south Indian cinema industry, Kollywood is doing its part. Gone are the days when Savithri known to us as Nadigaiyar Thilagam the evergreen heroine dressed in the traditional attire gave great performances. She never had to minimise her attire to show her acting talents. A pleasant looking face with a beautiful smile but with so many expressions had won her many accolades acting alongside Chevalier Shivaji Ganesan.
The olden day heroines had multiple talents. They used to sing, dance and some were even multi-linguistic so had no dubbing. We can never forget the Ashtavardhini means possessing eight talents singing, dancing, writing scripts, dialogues, direction, acting, costume designing, music all by one person Bhanumathi. She was wellknown for being a very strong and independent lady and was one of the greatest actresses of those times.
Anyways olden day movies most of them , could be watched with the whole family but nowadays we can hardly count on the movies which can be viewed along with our kids. Sometimes we are mouthstruck on the questions raised by our future generation of India.
  
The story does not end here, glamour and dressing up sexier has made even the male machos to follow the female counterparts, a perfect show of six packs and beach wears is what is today’s trend. Flash news is that close up shots is no more seen on facial expressions rather close ups in the belly and everywhere else in a few movies is giving an opportunity for the heroes to have a contest…
Nudity and vulgarity can never be a full entertainer. Real entertainment is in a good story, soothing music, and good acting according to the script and with decent clothing.
Tags: Kareena Kapoor, Namitha, Nayanthara, nudity in indian movies, Shah Rukh Khan, Surya, Vishal
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
July 17th, 2009
Author: Srividya
It was pointed to me that my verbal classes are called Vikram class or Vijay class. I was a huge fan of the former for a long time, and the latter, like my title suggests I love to hate. But he has plus points. He is a great dancer, stylish, has this never aging face. And he on his own admission says he makes the same kind of movie, because his fans like him that way. So for being open 100 points. For originality, minus 100.
   
His movies are a great teaching tool for a verbal teacher like me too. I find it a lot easier to teach a words like trite, hackneyed, clichéd. I just say like a vijay movie. And I can teach the word soliloquy or its close cousin monologue. One of the staples of a vijay film, a speech where the speaker talks and no one interrupts. I confess sometimes my classes are like that too. Especially when I am talking about Vijay.
I did enjoy Gilli. I have to say. More so for the Sukhvinder Singh song. But Adi? Trisha calling him mama mama..oh dear. You know it is one of these films where you can honestly say that the best part of the film was the interval.
But ..what’s that cop movie? Yes, the same one where he sports boot cut uniform pants and stubble? And his father gets an unroutine 21 gun salute? So realistic. PS the counsellor in my organisation, a college kid pointed this out to me, so hold your horses. The name will come to me .
But moving on, my main issue with his movies are that they are so insulting to women. They run behind him and he deigns to fall in love with them, like he is doing them a huge favor. The speech I was talking about, is mostly directed to the heroine who does not fit the whole traditional girl idea. So in the first half she probably runs around in jeans, western clothes but in the second half, and after his speech, she is transformed, she is demure, temple going, draws kolams with their toes on the ground when he is around. Something, by the way, I have never ever seen real women do, ever. The women in his movies subsume their identity totally so that he may reciprocate their love, swoon when he so much as looks their way and are grateful beyond measure when he says ok fine whatever, let’s love. Or some such thing.
Any self respecting woman would be insulted, and that’s my main problem with his movies.
I also take umbrage at this trend in Tamil cinema which denigrates English. The heroine who talks in English is looked at with amusement and thinly veiled disgust. Dialogues to the like of, we are Tamil and in Tamil Nadu , no English, only Tamil. Vijay’s films conform to this trend and the whole Tamil pride comes into play. All you need to do to prove that you are a true Tamil is speak the language. Forget the fact, that the music you dance to, some of the lyrics, the steps, the costumes all bear a trace of the Western influence.
Then tell me this, if English is so bad, why does every hero and heroine in Tamil cinema, confess intense romantic feelings with not, naan unnai kadalikiren, but instead with ‘I love you’. Or is that Tamil now?
Tags: Tamil Actor Vijay
Posted in Hot Updates, Kollywood (Tamil) | No Comments »
July 17th, 2009
Author: Srividya
Karan Johar’s films are the kind people love to hate I think. We watch them because they are stylish and hep and the chemistry between the main pair is always so good. We lap them up because when we watch them we send out this message that hey we get the whole idea of straddling two worlds. We are modern yet touch our elders’ feet and do elaborate pujas.
But we hate them too. The unbelievable sets and scenarios, it would seem that one can live in a palace size house and commute by helicopter, and be in first year of college and go to college in a sports car and in clothes that just came off the runways of ..New York Fashion Week? Lakme Fashion Week? You get the idea.
Johar needs to travel to my part of the world. I made the ‘mistake’ of donning, on my second day of college, cargoes and a top. I remember vividly being ragged all the way from the gate to my classroom and then being ragged during lunch hour or whenever my seniors were bored. Or needed a good laugh. I can say with absolute certainty and not a little pride that I was the most ragged junior that year. But allow me to brag and say that I also won ‘Best Fresher’ . Anyways..
The rule here, I think still is , oily hair, not-at-all-attractive-clothes-, the ubiquitous yellow bag that most jewelery shops give you your useless investment in, and rubber slippers. So no I cant wrap my head around the idea of how the wealthy live in these movies.( But after Parutiveeran, I think I live the over the top melodrama that is a guarantee in these movies, compared to the more’ realistic’, serious cinema I have claimed to like in the past.)
 
I hate them because like all other film makers, Johar too, typecasts like crazy. Thus Punjabis are loud (and off tune, kajol in kabhi khuhsi kabhi gam) are colourful, the anglos are all anglophiles, queen loving and funny accented ( Johnny Lever in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai), the woman who does not conform to Johar’s idea of femininity always loses the man, till she turns over a new leaf and gets help from manish malhotra (Kajol in the first half of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Priety Zinta in Kal Ho Na Ho). He is fairly insulting with all his hinting at homosexuality and the hard up spinster sister in Kabhi Alvida.
And in each movie , the camera makes long, slow love to .. no not the heroine, to Shah Rukh Khan. Each movie is a paean to the man.
Or am I nit picking?
A friend and I were talking about Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. A movie I might add, my students routinely disliked. I liked the movie, I thought it was interesting that for a change, Johar had focused on the dark side of relationships, in this case marriage. But I believe the movie is made for an older audience, not for these kids who are not even thinking about a serious relationship leave alone, marriage and leaving their spouse after that. And I was struck at how Johar says, follow your heart. And my friend was telling me how strange but true it was that Hindi cinema can give us lessons in life. And maybe that is the thing that draws us to these movies. That something good can come out of the mess we make trying to live the perfect life, that life can be innocent and not everybody is cynical. And for a self professed cynic, I like the idea.
Tags: Kabhi Alvide Na Kahana, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gum, Kajol, Karan Johar, Preity Zinta, Shah Rukh Khan
Posted in Blogger View, Bollywood (Hindi) | 1 Comment »
July 13th, 2009
To start with, it will be impossible to cover the growth of technology in Indian Cinema with a few paragraphs. We realize that. But here is a small snippet of our thoughts.
Movies remain one of the main entertainment aspects for the people of India, and it is a huge source of income for thousands of people. The Movie industry continue to grow it’s revenues and coverage across the globe. Lately many Indian movies are starting to take part in the UK and US box offices.
Anyways, while watching the movie on the silver screen, it is hard for us to imagine how technology played a major role in making of that movie or how the Indian movie industry is progressing alongside technology. For a technical movie love, it is easy to say that there has been a tremendous change in Indian movie making and it’s been upgrading it’s technical capabilities over a period time.
Taking a few step back, it is hard to imagine that the olden day movies neither had voice nor color, they were silent black and white movies. When Raja Harishchandra made the first Indian movie in 1913, produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, who is known as the Father of Indian Cinema, it brought the new face of entertainment to our people. Obviously, it was a hit. Amazingly enough it did not have any female lead, men played all the roles.
The south Indian movie industry caught up quickly and the very first movie was released in 1916, Keechaka Vadam, produced by Madras Productions. In those times movies were shot in and around Chennai and had to be sent to Pune and Calcutta for technical processing.The Electric Theatre was the main hub for these silent movies in Chennai.In those days a Railway employee, Samikannu Vincent used to bring the film project and use tents to show the movies. Also, the birth of this new entertainment channel gave birth to movie studios, such as, AVM, Vijaya, Gemini and more.
 
While the south is chunking away on growing the industry, Bollywood already started producing more movies. In the 1930’s Bollywood already produced 100+ movies. The first Indian sound film, Alam Ara was made in 1931 by Ardeshir Irani. It was a commercial success. It is an all talking, all singing and all dancing film. The songs, dance, and dialogs attracted more crowd and increased fan-following. So now the sound films became popular and all regional movie makers too followed the same. Sound however brought so many new complications the most important being the language. Most of the movies released at that time were in Hindi, Marathi and a few more down south with Tamil and Telugu.
 
Ardeshir Amir was the first to add some colour to movies, and the first colour movie Kisan Kanya was released, followed by another superhit Mother India.
The post Independence period was The Golden Age of Hindi Cinema. Some of the most critically-acclaimed Hindi films of all time were released during this period. The Chennai film industry produced the first commercially successful film, Chandralekha across India in 1948, a landmark film in Tamil cinema. This Movie was under production for five years before it was released. It was the most expensive movie made in Tamil till date and well known for its drum dancing and the longest sword fight sequence.
Technically speaking, during the earliest days of sound in Indian cinema, the Audio Carnex was the most popular among the sound recording machines used for filming sound. Second in priority ranking was the Fildelytone, with 20 machines in operation.The introduction of sound changed the entire style of production and projection of motion pictures. It also led to the growth and adaptation of new equipment and the creation of a hitherto unknown creative and technical vocation and sounds engineering. The first response to sound in cinema was to clarity of speech. Earlier, when the cameras were noisy, their sound was controlled using cotton blimps or cover.
Now a days, Dolby SR was used for the transfer from negative to Beta video format to Avid (digitalised computer system in which pictures and sounds are stored on hard disc) which is a non¬linear editing system, allowing for simultaneous editing of sound and picture. Avid offers the scope for non¬destructive editing where original sound is not destroyed while cutting Sound processing in labs is now going through the process of being standardised. Sound labs are becoming conscious about the Quality of sound rather than emphasise only clarity.
Sound technology in the country has shifted from optical to magnetic quite some time ago. Today, optical IS used only in the final stage of film¬making. Magnetic technology offers greater range in sound than the mono-optical system. The earlier loop system of recording has made way for the rock-¬n-¬roll system. New technology has made the hierarchy of sounds more complex and more exciting.
Music in Indian mainstream cinema defines a new synthesis of traditional and international genres of music. As film industry grew, it became clear that musicians would play an important role in movies. It is very rare to see Indian movies without songs. When movies are made without songs, people quickly come to a conclusion that those movies are made for awards only, even though it is not true.
By the end of 20th century and beginning of 21st century Indian cinema saw a massive growth and popularity in the world. This led the nation’s filmmaking to new heights in terms of quality, cinematography and innovative story lines as well as technical advances in areas such as special effects, animation, music composing, direction, editing, and more. With the arrival of Mass media communication and digital world, Indian Cinema is moving to greater heights.
Tags: Alam Ara, Bollywood new movies, Bollywood old movies, Chandralekha, Indian Movies and Technology, Kisan Kanya, Kollywood new movies, Kollywood old movies, Sound engineering in Indian movies
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