Step into La La Land

Step into La La Land

My sincere thanks to Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim, the founders of YouTube, for they have made watching films of any era, any time, anywhere possible with a mere click of the mouse or tap on the screen. The icing on the cake are Netflix, Amazon Prime and a host of other platforms which have made the task even easier, no need to look for and hoard DVDs and CDs now. No wonder then, I always remember not to do anything illegal and punishable for we haven’t yet heard of prisoners in India being provided the option to watch movies/programmes of their choice on mobile phones, laptops or television. Stay away from jail, is my motto and everyone else’s should be too.

But there is another aspect. The joy of watching a story unfold on the conventional large screen has its own charm. It can be combined with eating out, meeting friends or shopping, making it a major activity.

The first film I had watched was Rajesh Khanna – starrer Anand. A small girl, I did not understand much but remember being physically sick and mentally distraught when the sick hero died in the end. What shook me to the core was that a hall full of people just sat calmly and watched somebody die in front of them. I am happy to say I have grown up since and realise well that the hero got paid to ‘die’ and came back in the next film. I slowly learnt that even if it is based on a true story, a film is not ‘the whole truth and nothing but the truth’.

With time I have come to the stage of watching Bollywood films because of an actor and then I see the work of several others' too in it and may or may not choose to watch them in action. I am not anyone’s fan, and with India’s nearly 100 million film-watching population (my guess), no actor is getting nightmares if I am not among those yearning to watch their films.

This time Anil Kapoor’s name caught my attention and so did Tisca Chopra’s.  Let us ignore the name of the movie.

Film: Jugjugg Jiyo

I slid into the comfortable reclining seat in the super-cooled hall, all ready to watch a multi-crore work of fiction, a Hindi masala (spice) film. It is supposed to have all the ingredients romance, action, comedy, a touch of tragedy and violence, struggle, with a visit to the temple/church thrown in and of course, a lot of music.

The experience started well. I positioned myself as the toll tax collector and whatever food was passed, took a portion of it. Full of popcorn, spicy corn, bhel and sandwiches with stringy onions, I began to feel large-hearted and tolerant.  It did not matter whether they showed Pune in place of Patiala or Moscow for New York, I planned to enjoy it.

Slowly, the fiction started to feel like a disjointed fantasy about a big fat Punjabi wedding. What had started with the serious issue of souring relationships, marital exhaustion, male infidelity, not to forget patriarchy, turned into an escape from intelligence and common sense.

Somebody later pointed out that nearly 50 years since Abhimaan was released, male ego and patriarchy continue to be issues our society is grappling with.

You would think the film dealt with these issues quietly. No, several times during the 150 minutes, the huge ensemble cast would break into a song and dance sequence with opulent sets. In real life, I have never been to a wedding where every guest dressed in shiny costume, joins the dance with synchronized steps.

Film : Rab ne Bana di Jodi

Not even seen a guy take off his shirt in public (like the hero) for no reason! Mercifully, Anil Kapoor, who was among the first Hindi heroes to appear shirtless (only saw in films) when chest hair was still in fashion, chose to keep his dressy kurtas on.

We Indians love staging protests. But I have not heard even a small voice against we Punjabis being irreverently depicted as boisterous, forever singing and dancing, whiskey-guzzling community and sending the message – no need to take us seriously.

Where was the Anil Kapoor of Mr India, Tezaab, Ram Lakhan, Nayak, Dil Dhadakne Do?  

And Tisca Chopra? In view of her sensitive portrayal in Taare Zameen Par (Stars on Earth), Ankur Arora Murder Case and short films Chutney (which sent a chill down my spine) besides Chhuri (knife), was this film some kind of compulsion for her?

Yes, the hall was full. Shapes of human beings sprawled on recliners in the dark hall lit by the screen, made me realise it was merely- come spend your money game. But I shall stay away from going into the economics of tickets or food prices.

I survived the nearly three hour assault on my aural and visual senses, acting deaf to people clapping or laughing and repeating the dialogues they found funny, because I kept waiting for the real story to start. Had I whimpered, the two older men with us so far busy with their phones, would have found the perfect excuse to leave, as they had done during Simmba.  

When I got introduced to Hindi potboilers with Trishul, Trimurti, Amar Akbar Anthony, I knew fully well that it was not real life.  

Item songs are a must in most films nowadays

I  happily sat through films expressing discontent/disillusionment over social, socio-economic, socio-political conditions, rural issues/urban poverty, corruption/ violence, (Kaalia, Trishul, Majboor, Roti, Kapda aur Makaan, Hindustan ki Kasam),  crime thrillers (Sarkar, Satya, A Wednesday, Haider), musicals (Bobby, Kaho Na Pyar Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kal Ho Naa Ho,) family dramas (Biwi Ho to Aisi, Do Dooni Char, English Vinglish, Masoom),  female-centric attempts (Pink, Kahani,  Queen),  those with a message (3 Idiots, OMG! Oh My God), inspirational ones (Chak De India, 83), pure clean comedies (Golmaal, Angoor), realistic ones (Ram Prasad ki Teherveen, Manthan, Raazi, Accidental Prime Minister), experimental (Ek Hasina Thi) I could go on and on, and most of the time I have enjoyed the music too.

But lately, things have become a little difficult. The story-lines have gone bizarre, actors loud and brash, the music strange. (And what is an item song anyway?) More often than not, the experience poses a serious challenge to your intelligence. And yet, people rush for the first day, first show of Rajnikanth and Salman Khan movies, with repeated story-lines.

While I sit worrying about some film-makers treating us as imbeciles, I recall having seen fans in Bangalore celebrating birthdays of their heroes by garlanding cut-outs the height of a three-storey building and cutting huge cakes, at roundabouts. How does the actor acknowledge their love and dedication? In the end it is the producer laughing his way to the bank in the name of family entertainment.

A friend once suggested that to watch such movies dimaag hall ke bahar chhod kar jana (leave your brains outside the hall).  

215 feet high cut-out of Tamil
superstar Suriya

Film-maker and scholar Roopa Swaminathan has said, “Bollywood cinema is one of the strongest global cultural ambassadors of a new India.” Does  the rest of the world imagine us wearing clothes/make-up worn in the films? Or they think we as a nation are that melodramatic? 

Somebody please tell them that most of us lead dull lives devoid of a mixture of inherited wealth, meeting with long-lost family, about-turn in fortunes, love triangles, high-decibel verbal exchanges, sacrifices for love and family, loads of crime and corruption. And of course, we do not break into spontaneous song and dance routines in snow-covered Alps, that too with a troupe of dancers in the background following our moves.

Maybe I should not let one experience destroy the hopes of better ones to come for film-goers like me!

Life is too serious anyway, so I do not advise anyone to watch tragedies unless they are real-life stories and you want to watch them for a purpose. You may ridicule me but I am going back to watching Crazy Rich Asians for the ….th time to bring myself back into the realm of my kind of sanity.

    

                                                                                                -Anupama S Mani