Learn from the masters

Shooting at foreign locales and equipping technicians with sophisticated technology doesnot a good film make. These are peripherals. I have always felt that in India the main issues are relegated to the realms of non-issues and the peripheral issues become the kernel of discussion or for that matter a project. Recently, i read an article in the ahmedabad times the author which claimed that film audiences prefer fast, sleazy action movies than the ones with emotions and drama. I beg to differ. What about the movies of karan johar and sanjay bhansali? Their movies have raked in lucre and often critical acclaim. The success of a film comes down to basics like story in which the director has faith and not the producer or the marketing firm roped in for promotion, hiring actors who can potray the characters well and finally marketing the film to the target audience. What is happening is the reverse: story in which the producer has faith, actors in whom the marketing firm has faith and targeting the wrong audience. Of course this is not the case with every film. Success of movies like Black, Rang de Basanti, etc.. have proved that the right mix can not only fill up the coffers of producer but also the shelf of director with awards (i am not referring to filmfare awards which is more of a marketing gimmick than awarding the deserving talent).

The country still has not been able to make films that could match international standards. After watching hollywood films like Gandhi, A beautiful mind, Schindler's list and Basic Instinct i felt that movie making more to do with breathing life into characters and less with marketing. It was simply a memorable and inspiring occasion to watch Ben Kingsley play Gandhi ( its a shame on us that a foreigner made such a brilliant movie on Gandhi while we were busy shooting songs on swiss alps) , Russel crowe brilliantly potray the character of schizophrenic mathematician John Nash ( it compelled me to read Nash's biography), Liam nesson play Oscar Schindler and the superb erotic scenes sharon stone and michael douglas in Basic instinct. These films were not made on outlandish budgets or nor did they resort to heavy publicity but on the strength of characters, story and direction. Compare this with total mismatch characters in upcoming film Dhoom-2. One can easily make out the character of ash as Hrithik's accomplice in crime. But can ash potray a role of a seductress and conwoman. In the promos ash looks like a malnourished anorexic bimbo. She is simply thin and doesnt have a curvaceous body,to say the least. She suits perfectly in roles like that in Hum dil de..., Umrao Jaan but please not a role of seductress and conwoman. The role should have gone to lisa ray or for that matter any sexy model because dhoom2 is not about acting.

Shahrukh fitted so well in 'Swades' because the film demanded an'actor with ordinary boy door looks. Full marks to God, because Ashutosh Gowariker first approached Aamir for the role of mohan bhargav.
Bollywood needs to learn from its master hollywood in the art of film-making and not financing or technique because we are already good at it.