DesiToob

HAS CINEMA LOST ITS CHARM?

Today the theaters are not even half as full as they used to be just two years back. People just do not seem to be interested in going to the theaters any more. What could be the reason/s?

Except for Aamir, Khan and Hrithik Roshan there is no actor worth his salt  in bollywood who can guarantee even a 30% full theaters on the first show leave alone a house full Friday.

No doubt that the tickets at the multiplexes are costly, no denying that the colas and popcorns are sold at exorbitant prices, a small outing for a family of five could cost the family not less than 1500 rupees. However, money factor cannot be the only reason for the waning interest in cinema.

On the other hand, there is no harm on pondering over the fact that the so-called stars have lost their charm to draw the audiences in to the theaters? No magic seems to be working neither of the actors nor of the films. The problem is we have a spate of actors who think they are stars and charge the producers a big amount, which they just do not deserve by any figment of the imagination. Their only claim to stardom is that their photos are splashed in the page 3 section of the daily newspapers.

The media has in its own selfish interest  kept up the hype of  many of the undeserving actors in Bollywood. There are also reports of some reporters and journalists favoring a particular actor in exchange of gifts. The lure of big money gets some trash films 3 and 4 star reviews in the media , that’s what I have heard, which could very well be true otherwise how could a film like “Kaminey”, “Acid Factory” get good and decent reviews. The same goes for the reviews of books.

Actually, the problem is that today in the field of filmmaking, book-publishing, creativity has taken a back seat, and money is seen sitting at the wheel, driving . The real star and base of any film or book is its story yet the writer or author is the most neglected segment of the process. He is one of the least paid.

Leaving aside monetary considerations the major problem occurs when literature has to be made so bland that it does not surprise or offend anyone. By sanitizing literature/scripts to suit the sensibilities of the Indian censor, board you lose its power, its ability to make an impact is totally lost.

When you lose genuine creativity, you are like the fly by night operator who just wants to make a quick buck and move on to the next innocent victim. Today’s theater going audience and book readers are a bunch of half wits watching cheap entertainment or reading  non relevant books which have the depth of a 40 rupees Mc Donald’s burger.

Today both Bollywood and Hollywood is churning out garbage and so are some of the best selling authors in India. No wonder Francis Ford Copolla recently stated, “Cinema is losing the publics interest”

In Bollywood, it is wrongly believed that a so-called “star” can make a film  hit, nothing can be more wrong than this statement. Recently the big star of India Salman Khans two films got released – “Wanted” went on to become a super hit and the same actors other film “Mr. and Mrs. Khanna” also starring Karenna Kapoor, was a disaster right from day one.

ACTORS CANNOT MAKE A FILM HIT ONLY GOOD STORIES CAN.

I believe a good story properly told will always hold the publics interest. But then good stories need a huge lot of time, have to go through a process of several drafts and for that the author/writer has to be paid a decent amount so that he can devote his time thoroughly to his work as also  survive in the big cities respectfully. Sadly what we are witnessing today is the decline of the author/writer and hence the paucity of good stories.

Story urges the creation of works that will excite audiences and book lovers on the six continents and live in revival and reprint for decades. No one needs yet another recipe book or how to lose weight book .Cinema loving people are fed up of Hollywood and Bollywood remakes. We need to rediscover the underlying tenets of our art; we need to relearn the art of story telling. No matter where a film is made or a book published – America, London, India – if its of archetypal quality, it triggers a global and perpetual chain reaction of pleasure that carries it from theater to theater, book shop to book shop, generation to generation. That should be our goal.

The day production houses follow the dictum – “CONTENT IS STAR NOT THE ACTOR” – THE CHARM AND MAGIC OF CINEMA WILL BE BACK.

VARON B K SHARMA

Author/Writer

Book – “Assassination Of George Bush”

Film  – “Black & White”

www.varonbksharma.com