Bollywood: Giving A New Meaning to Senseless Deaths

Drama has always been an integral part of entertainment. In fact, even today, drama movies, the so-called 'tear jerkers' do have a good opening all over the globe. One of the most dramatic sequences in cinema, is therefore the death sequence of a character – the more important the character the better.

There is no question that cinema has taken full advantage of reel deaths. In fact, in inner circles there is a saying that if a lead actor (previously called the hero, and now, in politically correct terminology, called the former) dies on the screen, his (and in recent times, her), career lives on for at least ten years more. Hey, don't blame me for the various brackets, the world has changed.

Death has always been part and parcel of all types of fiction. What would a revenge drama be without death? Death is the concept that brings the idea of an evil tyrant playing with the lives of the innocent few home. Though sexual molestation is still by far the most horrid crime against humanity, death still rules when an idea has to be sent across a cross section of the movie viewing publicHowever, like every other concept that is beaten to death, character killings have not only been beaten, they have been flogged, whipped, skin peeled, burnt and buried to death. When one goes to the cinema theatre to watch a movie, mostly, they have an impression of being given sensible entertainment. Of course, if you like one of those 'keep your brains at home' capers, that's your lot. But we don't see too many deaths in these capers, do we?

There are a few recent examples of sensible and senseless deaths in movies. Be warned, industry rumors also voice out that some actors pay the script and screenplay writer to write out a death for their character. Not many can resist the seduction of giving up their lives, warped with the blood of a worthy fight, or losing the battle of life, lying majestically on a king sized bed, flanked by their screen husband and a varied number of friends and relatives on the silver screen. Better still, is the 'story mover' death. Good examples are the upright or virtuous relative, whose death creates situations for the main character to mow down a couple of people.

Like in the recent movie, 'Rang De Basanti'. Now, this is a movie which I will recommend for everyone . It is one of those movies which proves that reel life can influence real life. Why, as a personal account, I can tell you about me and my friend traveling in the myriad lanes of Mumbai. Now, breaking a traffic signal is a accepted enough occurrence, if not common. So, the next time an Indian asks you what's better about your company, you have another thing in your list ready – no radar to catch a traffic signal breaker. Anyway, we were at this said spot where breaking a signal was as common as changing the gear of the bike. However, we didn't, and our finishing line was 'Jaane de yaar, aaj kal sab logone Rang De Basanti Dekhi Hein. ' (Forget it friend, everyone has seen Rang De Basanti nowadays).

Over here, the moment the main protagonists go into the radio station, we know that its either a death or some magical pardon by the government for them. And believe me, I was pleased when the movie ended with the four guys killed by the government. I mean, if they had survived, it'd become a feel-good-movie, which one would only remember until their next credit card bill. It was the death of the four main characters that was responsible for the change from a story to an epic.

There have been certainly many other storylines which had no other option but the death of the character. Some that are on the top of my head right now are Jay (Amitabh Bachchan) from Sholay. Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (Amitabh Bachchan) from Agneepath, Birju (Sunil Dutt) in Mother India and Raghu (Sanjay Dutt) in Vaastav.

In fact, in the case of Mother India and Vaastav, the way the deaths take place took the movie into an entirely new plane. Both movies have mothers killing their sons. Whether it is for the sake of the entire world, or for the sake of their sons, is a matter of debate in literary circles. One trivia is that Sanjay Dutt is the son of (Late) Sunil Dutt in real time.

If you ask me one movie which I'd like to watch, and you'd to everything you could to get that movie for me, I'd say 'Manos: The Hands of Fate'. And I am jealous of Quentin Tarantino, because he has a copy of the said movie. So, you know what's coming up next. The worst death sequences!

Hype was hot about Ram Gopal Verma's remake of the legendary 'Sholay'. Some people have said that the movie had no soul, and thought RGV is one of the greatest storytellers in Indian cinema, I am forced to stand by their statement. One of the worst things in the movie is the said 'Jay's death in the said movie. That sequence was the most inane part of cinema I have ever seen, and yes, I was once paid to watch B grade movies, so think about it.

Recently, I caught this movie, a Marathi movie, 'Dombivli Fast'. Now, to be very fair, this movie has won rave reviews and even a couple of awards. The story is about a common man who flips one day and goes around the city brandishing a cricket bat, then a knife and finally a pistol. He doesn't do anything, just stabs a minister inaugurating a swimming pool by mistake. And that is when the plot goes all loose.

Why does a single man moving around with a harmless enough weapon become a matter of high security to the common problem? Why does a top officer give the orders of a 'shoot at sight' for a single man, who has no previous criminal record or history? Why does the man refuse to go with the police when he is apprehended, with a stupid line of 'let me go, I want to go my family'? Will he not meet his family when he goes to the police station? This is while thinking that the sympathetic police officer would not shoot him and actually only arrest him. And keep in mind, this guy knows nothing about this 'shoot at sight' order. Also keep in mind that it is not entirely improbable for an innocent person to be rounded up by the police and asked questions if they are traveling alone and late in the night, especially in Mumbai.

Marathi Cinema always says that they have been given a raw deal. I, for one, am a avid follower of Marathi cinema and remember some of the good movies I have seen very nicely. However, this one climax has been a letdown for me.