'99% hindi movies bad' fallacy
GX...@psuvm.psu.edu
as (99.99%) Indian movies are bad. Though mostly this statement is used
figuratively, it may be interesting to actually treat the matter literally
and arrive at a %age of good movies.
Considering the year 1993, there were approximately 50 hindi movies released
in the first 7 months this year (from an article in TOI). Extrapolating for
entire year + some more, we can assume a number of 150 films released for 1993.
Now to list the movies that were worth watching..this is where opinions will
differ. Anyway my list is
King Uncle
Aaina
Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja
Rudaali
Maya Memsaheb
Damini
Khalnayak
Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke
Gardish (too much of violence, but most nettors enjoyed it
I thought - so I'll put it in the list)
Gumrah
Can beef up the list by taking into account that I maybe
forgetting a couple of good ones at this moment
And can expect a couple of good movies (Andaz Apna Apna
and the likes to be released in what is left of the year.
So the grand tally will atleast be 15 good films out of a 150
which is 10% of good films a year if you are a Hindi movie fanatic. For
others the number may be down to 5% (discarding movies like RKRCKR,Khalnayak,
and Gumraah to probably account for my personal bias).
It seems to be a much ado abt nothing situation. But I am confident that the
situation is going to improve and we will have more and more watchable movies
coming up, especially with all the films that will be made for TV now that we
have so much of competition.
Gurmeet
Veep-Veep!
>I think a lot of people who knock Indian films for being bad are
>terribly oppressed themselves about being Indian, or are plain
>ignorant. Sure, Bombay turns out many duds, but there are always good
>films out there being made as well. The kind of one-sided biased view
>of Indian cinema that shows like 60 Minutes promote are plain
>journalistic cultural bigotry. Hollywood has its share of B-grade
>films. Why judge Bombay by a higher standard?
>
The first line is either a blind, undiscerning belief in "mera-
bhaarat mahaan", or rather woeful attempts at sophistry. Consid-
ering that I have spent all my formative years in India, I don't
see myself turning to 60 minutes for my opinion on Indian films.
Besides, my original point was directed at films made in recent
times.
The ability to miss a glaring point is rather surprising. With
*very* few exceptions, the quality of direction, cinematography,
acting and overall presentation for the genre of Indian *popular*
film is quite terrible. The intellect to come up with a rela-
tively strong story-line is definitely there, but the execution
is not. Hollywood has its share of B-grade films, but India (in
contrast) cannot make much of a claim for A-grade films. Be-
sides, you may pick any random film off the shelf here, and
you'll find a decent level of acting, realism of presentation
within the context, and a continuity of sorts. In other words,
the direction/production *quality* is reasonable within the con-
text of the story-line. Would you really consider picking up any
Indian film off the shelf and hope it's decent in any of these
respects? Extremely stilted acting, ridiculous scenarios, a
meandering sense of purposelessness with low-grade situational
comedy/action/romance. Even a faithful reproduction of American
films seems to be out of the intellectual reach of the popular,
Mr.Mega-hit actors and directors.
I agree your point is pertinent in the context of Indian films
that are not the run-of-the-mill, i.e., films by Ray, Nihalani,
etc. The average film of the south (from AP, TN, Kerala) tends
to be better than what Bombay makes. To say that the popular,
visible directors and producers like Manmohan Desai, Prakash
Mehra and the Sippys create quality film is a blatant misconcep-
tion. Someone like you who runs a damn good magazine ought to be
painfully aware of that.
I'm not so critical about thematic content; after all the Indian
film-goers by and large seem to approve melodramatic storylines,
and to be honest, I don't find it very taxing either. The prob-
lem is in the obvious lack of competition and the guaranteed
'karodoh-ka-maal' from the trash being churned out. Until there
is a movement from either within the industry, or from film-goers
the inertia to the lack of quality will continue.
In the end, you come away with what you want from a film - per-
sonally, I will be contented if there is a decent sound-track and
perhaps some strong role-playing by Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar
or the likes. Over and above that, I'm afraid there's very lit-
tle that can be said for Indian popular cinema in the past one or
more decades.
Regards!
-- Vallury Prabhakar
-- rus...@sunrise.stanford.edu
-- [415] 725-0163
Livleen Diwana
>Hi! So often I have come across the statement that 99% (number as high
>as (99.99%) Indian movies are bad. Though mostly this statement is used
>figuratively, it may be interesting to actually treat the matter literally
>and arrive at a %age of good movies.
> Considering the year 1993, there were approximately 50 hindi movies released
>in the first 7 months this year (from an article in TOI). Extrapolating for
>entire year + some more, we can assume a number of 150 films released for 1993.
I am very interested to know where you got your numers from. in 1992,
963 Hindi films were released, out of which 12 were considered box office
hits. Admittably, Bollywood had a slow start this year, but only 150 films
in total? India used to release the most films en masse, has this changed
radically?
Indian films are a great source of entertainment, music and dance. But
after reading the varied responses to the original article, Ifeel compelled
to post a caveat: outside of the host country of Hindi films (india), there
is a tendency and hole we all invariably fall into: to impose our western
ethnocentric impressions upon the hindi film structure. This cannot be
rationalized. HIndi films are targetted to a select audience in INdia. Th
THe filmmakers are catering to their expectations not ours. THese films are
not made for export audiences in mind. Perhaps one day they will. Each
person has their own ideas of what makes a good film as opposed to a bad
one. Hindi films are responding to advances in technology and progressive
ideals, but it just taking longer to manifest itself. If these films must
be judged (which I am guilty of doing on more than one occasion!) than
judge them within the context they were created. See them through the
eyes of the entrepreneur first....As I said, this is not easy and I tooo
must remind myself not to be overly critical - no matter how easy that
may be! :-)
Livleen Diwana
Vancouver, B.C.
GX...@psuvm.psu.edu
with Ayodhya, Bombay violence, Sunjay Dutt episode, and the untimely death of
Divya Bharati. Very few movies were therefore released in this period. The
figure of 50-60 hindi movies released in the first 7 months of 1993 was taken
from an article in the Sunday Magazine of Times of India (sometime in august).
Anyway Livleen's figure of 960+ hindi movies released in 1992 cannot be
correct because even at a healthy rate of 4-5 releases a week we land up with a
number of only 200 to 250 a year. I think the number 963 must be the total
number of movies (all languages) made in India that year.
Gurmeet
Amin Meghani
I agree with the Gurmeister: the total number of Hindi films in
any given year has never topped the 300 mark. A couple (maybe three)
years ago, I read somewhere that the Indian film industry is the most
prolific globally, churning out over 800 movies annually in a myriad
number of languages, with Hindi productions comprising 25%-30% of the
total.
--Amin
India Currents
terribly oppressed themselves about being Indian, or are plain
ignorant. Sure, Bombay turns out many duds, but there are always good
films out there being made as well. The kind of one-sided biased view
of Indian cinema that shows like 60 Minutes promote are plain
journalistic cultural bigotry. Hollywood has its share of B-grade
films. Why judge Bombay by a higher standard?
The film that took me by surprise with its quality was one by director
Sudhir Mishra called - Yeh Woh Zindagi To Nahin. It told two stories
simultaneously, one of student unrest and corrupt politics in Lucknow
in the present time, and another of graying freedom fighters who
reminisce about their days of idealism and valor fighting the British.
The truth lies somewhere in between the decay of the present and the
supposed glory of the past.
The film was very well shot and edited. Quite entertaining, too, if a
little long and melodramatic in parts. Felt very contemporary. Seeing
it I kept thinking, this is the India I know. I can relate to this.
Check it out on video, if you haven't seen it.
--
India Currents
The Complete Indian American Magazine * Since 1987
P.O. Box 21285 Phone: (408) 274-6966
San Jose, CA 95151-1285 Fax: (408) 274-2733
Geeta Agrawal
Rajesh Gupta
Bajwa
Well not exactly 99% but i would put somewhere around 50% of indian movies
are technologically bad according to western standards today. Indian
movies are made for Indian audience not American, so we cannot judge them
by living here in U.S.A. and comparing them to Hollywood's movies, which
are made by big companies i.e. Disney etc. In India today, the only type
of movies which audience can watch are either emotional drama, love story
or revenge story with action, for example sci-fi movies will totally be
flopped unless made on a big budget as 'Mr. India' was. Movies like
'Dances with wolves', 'Citizen Kane' will be totally flop, if made in
India with some Indian story, or any movie which is based on western
notion of philosophy or moral standards will also be a flop. Indians go
to cinemas for entertainment not a philosophical lesson, but if somebody
can mix entertainment with a moral lesson as lot of old indian directors
i.e. Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt, has done the movie becomes a classic. Even
today, may be not in Hindi cinema but in Malyalam cinema and almost all
southern cinema, standards are much higher because more people are more
educated there then north India where Hindi movies are played. Recently I
saw a movie called 'Roja' directed by Mani Ratnam, although it was dubbed
in Hindi but the distinct style of director and music of the movie along
with acting was the main scoring point. I think because of lower literacy
in north India, directors are forced to make movies which common North
Indian can understand and have an entertainment for three hours.
Sandeep S Bajwa
ssb...@cis.pitt.edu
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Zaheer Mahmood
movies , I hasten to say that AAINA and HUM HAIN RAHI PYAR KAY were by far the
best movies released this year. KHALNAYAK was disappointing mainly because
Dutt couldnt deliver his dialogues properly and also because the ending could
have been a bit more realistic.
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