Bollywood 2007

Thanks to a friend who is a big movie-buff, the last 12 months saw me watching more movies than I ever have (Can you imagine I even sat through “Cash”, a movie where neither the cast and crew nor the audience had a clue of what was happening in it!). So it becomes natural to wrap up the year with my Bollywood moments of 2007.

A relatively unknown line-up of directors ruled the marquee in 2007, as the Yash Chopras and Subhash Ghais took a backseat and focused on their production houses. The debutante directors nurtured their nascent ideas into experiential (I’d rather use this word than the cliché “experimental”) films like “Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.” (Reema Kagti), “Bheja Fry” (Sagar Ballary) and “Taare Zameen Par” (Aamir Khan), to name a few. Even though they may not have raked in big moolah, they did get the attention of an audience who is developing an appetite for offbeat subjects which, in fact, are closer to life.

While 2007 brought many character artists to the forefront, the not-so-popular mainstream actors were not hesitant to play smaller roles. This was primarily because storylines moved from a linear format to parallel threads strung together at some points. “Life in a… Metro” is a case in point, where disparate episodes blended into each other against the backdrop of a metropolitan. The movie brilliantly captured the emotions of a changing world. Another such film which relied heavily on characterizations rather a mono-toned story was “Honeymoon Travels”.

Surprisingly, conventional romance was placed on the backburner in 2007. The exception to this was “Jab We Met”, which ironically coincided with the lead pair un-meeting in real life. The movie with its witty dialogues, captivating screenplay and sprinkling of family drama ensured that the audiences were entertained. It was one of the rare movies this year that made me revisit the theatre for a repeat show. In a year, where a movie and its music did not meet with simultaneous success, this movie again was an exception.

The lyrical “The Namesake” (even though not Bollywood) was one movie that warmed my heart with its theme and performances. Tabu’s poignant portrayal of Ashima could easily be termed as one of the best performances this year. Also remarkable was her character in “Cheeni Kum”, a cute romantic comedy. The hatke-love story, fortunately, didn’t meet with resistance in a country where the lyrics of a song can raise political emotions.

My taste of comedy came in the form of “Dhamaal”, a desi version of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”. Even though some scenes were straight lifts from the original, it was a funny movie. Especially commendable was Javed Jaffery’s performance, which deserves the award for Best Actor in a Comic Role. A so-called psycho thriller “Bhool Bhulaiyya” with its ensemble cast was a strictly one-time watch. “Om Shanti Om”, for all its hype and masala, was again just above average. Take out SRK from the film and I doubt if it will find any takers.

This year also saw the Yash Chopra clan churning out movies like RGV’s Factory, even though they were entertainers unlike RGV’s insipid cinema. However, the effect of mass production is visible on the quality of Yash Raj Films. How else would you explain their “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”, a movie which was inanity at its cinematic best? Even though the movie had one of the most mellifluous tracks of the year – “Bol Na Halke Halke” as well as the groovy title track, the music couldn’t rescue the film. I however liked their other 3 family dramas – “Ta Ra Rum Pum”, “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag” and “Aaja Nachle” – even if expectations were higher. It is high time that Adi Chopra comes out of his directorial hiatus; he still seems to wonder how he can live up to DDLJ expectations after “Mohabattein”.

The path-breaking movie of the year definitely was “Chak De! India” which not only won critical acclaims but also set the box office registers ringing. However, I don’t see too many movies in the sports genre repeating its success because there is only a limited variation you can bring in to the subject of underdogs winning the final battle and comparisons are inevitable. “Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal”, which looked like a poor cousin to Chak De, sank because of this despite the fact that it was above average fare.

Also in the same league as Chak De, “Taare Zameen Par” went against conventional Bollywood rules. There was no heroine romancing the hero, no item numbers or grand sets, just songs which complemented the screenplay, and a meaningful story with a message. In both the films, casting plays a great role in ensuring their success. The research and vision of the directors and their conviction in their subject makes the movies the masterpieces they are. I sincerely hope that more such films continue to entertain us.

I missed out on quite a few movies but intend to catch up on these – “Saawariya”, “Gandhi, My Father”, “Dharm”, “Johnny Gaddaar” and “Manorama Six Feet Under”.

Bollywood is constantly evolving, new subjects are being explored and different genres being explored. In all this, I just have 2 issues.

One is the mind-boggling crores that our actors are beginning to charge for their movies. There is no rationale that the actors encash their superstar status in such a brazen manner. Eventually, it is the audiences that will have to bear the brunt by shelling out more money. And I think it is unjust for the movie-goer who has already seen a multifold increase in the ticket prices in the last few years.

Second is the constantly shortening shelf-life of film music. There was a time when songs reigned the charts for months (even years in some cases). Now all it takes is a couple of weeks for a song to be forgotten and get dumped into Gigabytes of never-to-be-heard-again songs. If there’s a flip side to the new wave of Bollywood films, it is that they don’t have permanence in music. And for someone for whom Bollywood music is the bridge to Indian classical, there is a dearth of semi-classical songs that Hindi movies were once replete with. I hope there are musically-inclined people in our Indian film industry that can tap the vast heritage of Hindustani and Carnatic music and fill this void.

Looking forward to an even better Bollywood in 2008!