Cinema over the Years

25th day of #Blogchatter daily write challenge 

It happened to Hollywood. The movie industry enjoyed prestige and mass appeal during the golden era (Late 1920s to early 1960s) when production was controlled by reputed studios like MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. During this period the movies had great story telling ably supported by bankable stars like Cary Grant, James Stewart, Clark Gable, Gregory Peck, Grace Kelley, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Heburn and Elizabeth Taylor to name a few. The period saw stories based on solid screen play to which the viewers could relate to . From such an enviable position, the industry later moved away to big projects with the focus being on technology led, spectacular spectacles with an overdose of violence and sex. 

Sadly, Hindi cinema followed in its footsteps and in turn regional cinema, seems to have aped Hindi cinema. Although formula ridden commercial cinema existed in the 50s, 60s and 70s, they were still rooted to the Indian context, to which the cine goers could relate. The heroines still had important parts in the movies of that period, executed with elan by talented artists like Meena Kumari, Waheeda Rehman, Nargis and Vyjayanthimala. Cut to the present times and you have heroines in Hindi movies whose presence is merely ornamental .Their role is often limited to appearing in two or three provocative dance or duet sequences 

As against this sad state of affairs today, during the golden era, even the heroines who mostly did commercial films had a few iconic roles which they could be proud of - Like, Sharmila Tagore in "Aradhana", Mumtaz in "Khilona" or Hema Malini in "Seetha aur Geetha",  movies in which they essayed the central character. Mindless violence, excessive show of skin and extravagant use of technology mark today's films. An insider was heard remarking that the scripts of Hindi films today are written in English as many actors do not know how to read Hindi properly. In fact, many come to know of the lines to be rendered, only at the time of prompting during the shoot.   

It is necessary to have life experiences in order to effectively portray the dynamics of various characters. Unlike their parents who had seen poverty and hardships at close quarters before they made it big, the star sons have no exposure to life other than their privileged environment. No wonder, there are unable to get under the skin of the characters and deliver lines with the appropriate feeling like the stars of yesteryear.

A person without acting skills can aspire to be a hero in Hindi movies if good in dancing, able to do fight sequences and looks good in romantic song scenes. However, of late the same trash repeated film after film under the stewardship of unimaginative directors have resulted in steady decline in the viewership, even rejection of mainstream Hindi films by viewers. Only a few actors who have chosen to be different from the prevailing trend like Rajkumar Rao, Ayushmann Khurana, Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar are able to retain viewer's interest in their work. 

Most of the regional cinema have also gone the 'Hindi cinema' way, focusing on large, expensive productions, banking on the super stars and explosive action (heavy doze of violence and bloodshed). Malayalam and Marathi cinema, however, have come out with films outside the typical commercial formula of the day. These films are increasingly gaining the interest of international audiences and viewers from  states other than their own  who are watching them on the OTT platform. 

If Indian cinema is to regain its past glory, 'content' should once again be king. Actual production of cinema should return to the hands of 'Real producers' and directors who are totally involved in the process and all aspects of decision making at each stage - Producers like B.R. Chopra, Rajkapoor, Tarachand Barjatya, J. Om Prakash in Hindi or like S.S.Vasan and AVMeyyappa Chettiar in the south. 

The actors, no matter what their market value, should not be allowed to call the shorts but asked to restrict themselves to the roles assigned. Today the 'Super star' decides the director, co-artists, music director, technicians etal. Although, this method appeared for some time to work effectively, the industry has realized the hard way that handing over total power to these so called 'super stars' has in fact cut at the very roots of the well- being of the film industry. 

The corporates who have entered the fray in a big way have proved that they are ill equipped to handle matters of creativity. The lie to their erroneous belief that merely signing a saleable hero, heroine and spending a lot of money on technology and exotic locales hits the jackpot, stand exposed. The industry is finding out the hard way that the primary step in film making, is to have a good story and script that is capable of engaging the viewers. You simply can't put the cart before the horse! You do so at your own peril.