Why Did I Watch It?

In India, only two things excite people: first one is cricket and other one is Bollywood. Believe it or not! Bollywood churns out maximum number of movies; nearly a thousand movies are released each year. These include commercial latka jhatka movies (Actor- Actresses running around trees), regional movies technically unsound but with strong relevant issue and documentaries that are contemporary and real but do not find place even in the piracy infected market.

But the need of the hour is that people associated with the business of showbiz to come up and give what viewers want. No one in India is going to deny the fact that the quality of Hindi film in terms of originality is below the minimum bench required for customer satisfaction.

Fact that the ways in which the movies are marketed nowadays play a pivotal part in the success of movies which lack conviction in script or other creative aspect. The question that remains to be answered: Is there a standard procedure involved in production of the product (a movie in this case)? The script in most case is like a relic; which is only believed to be there but no one around actually knows what it actually looks like!

The current use of item songs and item girls has become frequent to increase the value of the product. There are certain movies in current times in which the item song bought people happily to the theatres but ended up being the only reason of the let down (e.g. Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani starring Shahrukh Khan). The title song is still rage but the movie did not even make a dent except to the producer’s confidence.

The million-dollar question is: What is a movie? It is a form of ex-pression or art. That was simple. Well aping is no art. I don’t know how many people who are die hard fans of Hindi movies actually associated Hindi movie with concept of originality? I am not the one at least. The last three years have been worrisome for Hindi movie industry. The economy may be bullish but movies continue to be under the hammer. A possible reason - the quality of product is so poor that by the time it reaches the customer it is stale bread.

There is lack of originality that is affecting the industry. We as customers demand original music, scenes, scripts, drama… is it too much to ask from professional industry. It may be important to note that films like Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Hum Tum, Black, Saatya, Devdas, and MUNNABHAI M.B.B.S. were appreciated because they had something new to offer.

There is one more issue that niggles me. The big banners who have huge budget for their movies are more interested in pleasing the foreign and NRI market. The reasons are obvious more monetary profitability. Is it wrong that Indian fans feel a little bit let down? We have the right to see what we want. It’s better to see an original foreign film and try to associate us with some of the points underlined during the course of the film. But what is the use of watching a cheap imitation that does not provides any entertainment but rather gives a feeling "why did I watch it?"