Jaago re... against shitty cinema.

Ever heard of this guy called Gus Van Sant? Those who have seen the Matt Damon & Robin William starrer, Good Will Hunting, might have. Why did he take 11 long years after 2000, to come out of hiding and make the universally acclaimed film, Milk??

Maybe or  I'm almost sure that he was ashamed to rub shoulders with his Hollywood mates after having made the ultimate mistake of remaking Mr. Alfred Hitchcock's classic, Psycho!! Yes, people make SUCH mistakes in life.

Why am I writing about some obscure Hollywood directer?? Because, our very own Rohit Shetty has committed a similar crime by remaking Hrishida's (Hrishikesh Mukherjee) timeless classic, Golmaal. It is bad enough that he thought of Golmaal as source material, but , it is whole different game to make such a despicable movie and attach Hrishida's name to it.

No, I have not seen the movie,will not watch it, and will try and stop others from watching it. The promos are enough to repel me.

This worrying trend started with the famous Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag and it was just the tip of the iceberg. Then came Don, then Agnipath. Now we will have remakes, reboots, rehashes, rethinks and re-inventions of Zanzeer, Abhimaan, Aaradhana, Seeta aur Geeta, Chasme badoor.

It is easy to blame a "creative Vacuum" in the Hindi movie Industry, but ultimately it is the demand that shapes the commercial realities. Directors may innovate , but producers need to feel confident that public will welcome and like the product. It is just wishful thinking on my part, because, what I have mentioned above is only about the classics being remade, but, the other worrying, and more irksome trend is remaking  southern movies to make big monies in Bollywood.

Rowdy Rathore might have earned zillions in the box office,but help me find 3 people who have liked it. I do not think many people would like to take up that challenge. 

Okay, I may think that remakes should be banned. Obviously, Mr. Shetty and gang think otherwise. What about origininality, you ask? Well, let me refresh your memory. Take out Kahani, Ek mein aur ek tu, Paan Singh Tomar, Vicky Donner, Shanghai and Gangs of Wasseypur and what do you have? You have had an  absolutely delicious list of movies this year like Ghost (remember the Shiney Ahuja film?), Ek Diwana tha (Yet another south remake), Jodi Breakers (no one saw it) , Agent Vinod (Haha, some spy movie), Housefull 2 (Shut-up), Hate Story ( oh come on), Tezz ( Shit, it gets worse).... Hold on, let me present the big three... PLAYERS ( the godawful attempt at remaking a decent remake of a classic, yess), DEPARTMENT ( Ramu's latest headache - inducing take on the Mumbai underworld) and DANGEROUS ISHQ ( shitty storytelling, 3 times over)...

What is wrong with our industry? Where are we going wrong? where is the problem? Are we, the viewers, responsible? Are we somehow propagating these rank bad movies by paying up upwards of Rs. 200 /- per ticket? As I said, demand fuels everything.... 

I'm sad , very sad, as I write this, but the year ahead does not look bright either.

Just like The Dark Knight rises to save Gotham, we collectively need to rise and stop this phenomenon of propagating mind numbing cinema. Let us boycott movies made in bad taste, movies that are made purely to zillions at the box office, let us stop "keep your brains at home" argument. 

It is your hard earned money. Stop wasting it. If you have to spend 3 hours, get yourself a hobby instead.

We, the multiplex class should bring about this revolution.

Signed,

An angry guy who is disappointed most of the Fridays. 

The Artist - A splendid ode to a bygone era

For all of you who are reading this and  have not yet seen the modern classic yet, please do.

Calling it an experiment , like a lot many people did, would be a great disservice to the makers of this splendid movie. 'The Artist' is sure to go down in history as a must-watch. For those who want to study films, for those who pursue cinema relentlessly, and also for those who just watch movies because they just like to. If you're wondering why a silent film, the movie not only answers it, but makes you fall in love with the medium. it's clearly a product of a thinking director, where everything in the scene has a story to tell.

To be fair there is little of substance happening in 'The Artist'. It tells a fairly conventional and frankly kind of cliché story about rags to riches to rags. 'The Artist' isn't really about anything other than pure emotion. It's a sentimental film designed to really invoke a response in it's audience and it does it beautifully.

The film tells the story of George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a silent film actor megastar who withers away into obscurity when the introduction of "talkies" meets monumental popularity. Movie extra Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) is a star on the rise who's admiration for George's work runs much deeper than the film's they share.

Jean Dujardin, largely unknown to the world, looks like a cross between Clarke Gable, Rock Hudson and Cary Grant.  Armed with a very charming smile and towering presence, he nails it as a megastar of the bygone era. He does such a splendid job, that it is almost impossible to think of this movie without him.   He is superbly supported by Bérénice Bejo, who plays a sprightly extra who goes on to become a Hollywood pin-up girl.

Both of them bring wonderful works, reaching that exact point of theatrical exaggeration and intimate detail the best actors from that period possessed. We tend to watch old films almost like involuntary comedies, full of apparatus expressions and excessive melodrama, but the actors were testing the limits of the new medium, and their best exponents (such as Buster Keaton, Lillian Gish and Lon Chaney) discovered the balance which was perfectly captured by Dujardin and Bejo.

Then, there is Uggie, who is Jean’s dog. If only the Academy had an award for an animal, he would have been the first choice.

Director and screenwriter Michel Hazanavicius made a brilliant work at capturing the atmosphere, rhythm and texture of mute cinema. He deserves more than a pat on his back for crafting a movie which is deeply reverential of the world of movie making, in addition to stimulating the sense of joy in all of us, making it irresistibly charming and appealing to the modern audience.  In this era of slam bang actioners, cacophonous explosions, VFX laden spectacles, remakes and sequels and of course the ubiquitous 3D, it takes extreme gumption to make a silent film that celebrates the old magic of movies.

Three aspects (amongst many others) that stand-out are:

Music score - The movie may not have dialogues, but it has a rousing soundtrack. After Jean, the music lends itself as the most important character in the movie. Every scene, each emotion is amplified beautifully by Ludovic Bource’s Oscar worthy score.

Cinematography - Hitchcock used to say that the silent movies were the most perfect state of the cinematographic art. The cinematography is gorgeous. Guillaume Schiffman makes love to the beautiful production design through his camera. The movie was shot in the 1.33:1 "Academy ratio," just as in silent-film days, since director-writer Michel Hazanavicius considered it 'perfect for actors' because it gives them 'a presence, a power, a strength. They occupy all the space of the screen.' 

Subtle placements / plot-points  - The titles shown on posters and outside cinemas often mirror the plot - for example, "The Thief of His Heart" is visible as Peppy tries on George's coat, "The Lonely Star" when George sadly crosses a street and "Guardian Angel" is the Peppy Miller film visible just after the auction. The 3 wise monkeys George's desk are a constant reminder of his aversion for all things sound. The staircase scene symbolizing George’s downfall and Peppy’s raise is worth it’s weight in gold.

This movies sets a precedent and creates a strong example for aspiring film-makers. This amazingly detailed, nuanced, visually brilliant film was shot is 35 days flat!!!

Some very interesting trivia about the movie. (Those who are yet to experience it, please skip this as it may contain spoilers)

# The movie was originally shot in color, then converted to black and white.

# There is not a single “Zoom shot” in the entire movie because zoom technology did not exist in the movie’s time period.

# The first spoken word of the film is 'cut', while the last spoken word is 'action'.

# All the dance sequences were performed by the actors themselves through heavy rehearsals.

# Peppy Miller does not have a single audible spoken line - despite being a talking superstar.

# The role of Jack the dog was actually played by three matching Jack Russell Terriers: Uggie, Dash and Dude.

 Go ahead, treat yourself to this classic. It is highly recommended.

Was it worthy enough to win the Best picture oscar? YES

Is it worth watching? YES. TWICE :)