Of late I have been discovering the Indian commericial film industry.
To tell you the truth, till now I have sidelined the Indian films, not out of a misplaced sense of snobbery, but often I was unable to handle the pathos and the resulting tears. Family dramas upset me, and comedies were few in number when I grew up.
So English films were a safe bet and there were years in madras when I cleared 100 movies a year. I remember visiting anand, devi, casino and Odeon more often than some of my lecture rooms.
Circumstances have made me revisit my attitude to Indian commercial cinema. I have seen a string of hindi and tamil movies, and one I would like to comment here is Parineeta.
i found a maturity in the production and liked the way in which the story was presented. It is a simple love story of a boy and girl, their tribulations caused by a greedy father, and love ultimately wins, with the help of a good fairy. Which probably is the plot of most of our movies.
What sets Parineeta apart is the subdued way in which the characters and feelings are dealt. Vidya Balan is awesome as a young woman, Lolita, in love, unable to show it, unable to explain her predicament to a doubting lover and willing to suffer the consequences of it, rather than stoop to base acts.
In my world, such characters are not lifelike, as when confronted with issues, an average person, would go out of the way, to get matters resolved. They would communicate to the hilt, which I found absent in such stories. People start a conversation, and assume a result, without going the full 100 yards to verify the results.
Also of thrill was that Vidya comes from a town next to that of mine and it just shows that us pattars can take on any challenge in life and with perseverance come out on top. The world of Indian films is among the most competitive in the world, and to get good roles and excel in them, is nothing short of an awesome achievement.
I am still trying to sort out between the various khans of bollywood. This khan, who played shekar, was ok in this pix and played the role of a dreamy wimpy yet daddy whipped youth, fairly well. Sad to say, there are boys out there whose head is turned on or off by their parents. These should be taught how to think for themselves. This shekar got lucky in life and love. Many others are not so fortunate, and rue much later in life, for not asserting themselves.
The supporting characters were ok. I could find nothing faulty with them, though the bad guy was 100% bad. That simply was not believable.
The music was good and a couple of songs, very haunting. The movie was made in 2005, but I think, this will be one of those timeless movies, and like good wine, age well and could be partaken with flourish any time, now or in the future.
To tell you the truth, till now I have sidelined the Indian films, not out of a misplaced sense of snobbery, but often I was unable to handle the pathos and the resulting tears. Family dramas upset me, and comedies were few in number when I grew up.
So English films were a safe bet and there were years in madras when I cleared 100 movies a year. I remember visiting anand, devi, casino and Odeon more often than some of my lecture rooms.
Circumstances have made me revisit my attitude to Indian commercial cinema. I have seen a string of hindi and tamil movies, and one I would like to comment here is Parineeta.
i found a maturity in the production and liked the way in which the story was presented. It is a simple love story of a boy and girl, their tribulations caused by a greedy father, and love ultimately wins, with the help of a good fairy. Which probably is the plot of most of our movies.
What sets Parineeta apart is the subdued way in which the characters and feelings are dealt. Vidya Balan is awesome as a young woman, Lolita, in love, unable to show it, unable to explain her predicament to a doubting lover and willing to suffer the consequences of it, rather than stoop to base acts.
In my world, such characters are not lifelike, as when confronted with issues, an average person, would go out of the way, to get matters resolved. They would communicate to the hilt, which I found absent in such stories. People start a conversation, and assume a result, without going the full 100 yards to verify the results.
Also of thrill was that Vidya comes from a town next to that of mine and it just shows that us pattars can take on any challenge in life and with perseverance come out on top. The world of Indian films is among the most competitive in the world, and to get good roles and excel in them, is nothing short of an awesome achievement.
I am still trying to sort out between the various khans of bollywood. This khan, who played shekar, was ok in this pix and played the role of a dreamy wimpy yet daddy whipped youth, fairly well. Sad to say, there are boys out there whose head is turned on or off by their parents. These should be taught how to think for themselves. This shekar got lucky in life and love. Many others are not so fortunate, and rue much later in life, for not asserting themselves.
The supporting characters were ok. I could find nothing faulty with them, though the bad guy was 100% bad. That simply was not believable.
The music was good and a couple of songs, very haunting. The movie was made in 2005, but I think, this will be one of those timeless movies, and like good wine, age well and could be partaken with flourish any time, now or in the future.
