Bastard Indian Copycats!!!

The one reason why I love Hollywood movies so much & have so much contempt for everything Bollywood is this: Creativity in Mainstream Indian Cinema is Dead. All these so-called Big Banners do is COPY! And they do it so unabashedly. They don't even feel shame at proclaiming themselves as being in the Creative Arts! This is largely the brand of Indian that walks the Earth today: A Lying, Cheating, Unembarrassed Scumbag!

If this post gets read, I'm sure it will ruffle a few feathers, but I dare anyone to prove me wrong. I've heard generalizations are inaccurate (and I agree), but when I say largely I know for a fact that I'm right. Here's a list of why I think so:

Almost every single superhit movie in the past couple of years is aped from the West. Here are a few examples:

The "respectable" Yashraj banner:
Darr: copied from Cape Fear
Hum Tum: copied from When Harry met Sally
Salaam Namaste: copied from 9 Months
Dhoom: copied from The Fast & the Furious
Bunty & Babli: copied from Bonnie & Clyde
The storylines where altered imperceptibly, changing the ends here & there to give it an original feel to them. This is the same Yash Chopra who made Waqt & Deewar...? I'm beginning to wonder. Maybe they were copies too!

David Dhawan:
Mujhse Shaadi Karogi: copy of not one but TWO movies!!! It's a mash of Meet the Parents & Anger Management! I'm pretty sure they're all copies of some movie or the other.

Taxi # 9211: copied from Changing Lanes; and I'm sure anything Mr. Rohan Sippy will produce going forward will be copied or "inspired" from Hollywood.

Sanjay Gupta & Abbas-Mustan (Baazgar=A Kiss before Dying) I'm not commenting on since they are INCAPABLE of original storylines or anything that even remotely resembles creativity. All their crap is aped shamelessly from someone or the other.

And it doesn't stop at film. It extends to TV as well! Jassi, Indian Idol & KBC are legtimate, liscenced copies of the original, but there are copies of English, British & even Spanish soaps competing with Ekta Kapoor's tearjerkers. Right from Zabaan Sambhalke then to Ek Ladki Anjaani Si now. Jet, Set, Go & Business Baazigar(!!!???), are inane copies of the Amazing Race & The Apprentice!!!

This blatant plagiarism reeks of a lack of self respect & a total lack of respect for the image of the Motherland! As long as they're dishing out whatever the audience wants, the makers & the actors have no qualms.

And the media is equally to blame. Instead of interviewing & glorifying the gutsy likes of Nagesh Kukunoor, Ashutosh Gowarikar & Govind Nihalani, they take interviews of idiots like Shahrukh Khan & Ekta Kapoor. Instead of calling the likes of Rakeysh O. Mehra & Aamir Khan the Kings of Bollywood, the bestow these epithets on those with far poorer wares like Shahrukh & Karan Johar! Instead of influencing public thought & opinion, they pander to popular taste.

Disgusting times we live in!

My Favourite Movies: 2

As I'd said in my earlier movie post, this list is bound to get extended.
I recently saw Rang De Basanti and it get's added to my list of favourites. I will classify it under my favourite patriotic movie. There're loads of Bhagat Singh biopics & Nana Patekar/Manoj Bajpai starrers, slogan peppered, with explosions & guns, and with semi-naked Indian girls gyrating to a western beat trying to stir up patriotic fervour in the last decade. But all of them put together couldn't do what a Rang De Basanti did in it's first week of release. When I say this I know that I'm not only speaking for myself; I couldn't sleep after the movie. I lay awake thinking about how futile my existence has been. About how I should stop cribbing about the state of my country & DO SOMETHING! Even if it takes doing what the protagonists in the movie do!
I have always maintained that Aamir Khan is probably the Best New Generation Star-Actor we've had in India for the last decade. His involvement with his films goes beyond acting. And all the film-makers who have signed him in recent times have finally delivered long-overdue winners: Gowarikar, Mathan, Farhan Akhtar and now Rakeysh O. Mehra! The entry of corporates into filmmaking has also made film-makers churn out movies that appeal to the educated class. It's a good sign & may it continue.
Here's to more great movies by Mr. Khan, Mr. Mehra & the likes of UTV.