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DOUBLE STANDARD?

Topic started by Sathish (@ 64.222.80.91) on Sun Nov 18 12:18:33 EST 2001.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Dear Friends,

I happened to step on the review on "Abhay" in www.rediff.com and hope most of the viewers might have been able to read it. I couldnt digest the review , but a review on "Tera mera saath rahen" the next day in the same webpage has aggravated my opinions about these reviews. I just wanted to know if you people have a similar kind of opinion. Why are the south indian talents being disregarded? Why is this double standard?

My friend wrote back to rediff.com and I am also including the contents of his letter. I am just curious to know people here have similar views.


Dear Sir,

It is with great regret that i am writing my opinion on this review. I had rediff's views as one of the most respectable so far, but this article definitely made me have second thoughts, to put it vry very mildly. If the writer does not have a clue abt the hard work which went into Abhay, he can probably refrain from talking about a genius like Kamal Hasan. It is different issue if the movie is not interesting or if "you dont like it", but when you talk in an oepn forum, its better you know what you are talking about. It is sad to note that movie like Hey Ram, Abhay and Asoka dont get their due, while senseless and the so called make-me-feel-nice movies like HAHK, DDLJ and all those bunch of movies with meaningless storylines and stupid acronyms catch the eyes of not only the viewers but the so-called movie intelliengetsia of the country. I can understand the author not accepting the efforts of someone from the South, but there sseem to be so much of hypocrisy in the reviews- again to be extremely mild- a movie like Asoka which was probably one of India's technically best movies gets a review from Rediff that its a "typical hindi movie" ( to quote you exactly) and Tera Mera Saath Rahen gets the movie of the year. Kamal's effort in Hey Ram/Aalavandhaan, Santosh Svian's genius in Asoka and Maniratnam's techincal mind in a Dil Se are "good", but Ajay Devgan's performance in TMSR ( i am just trying to be a part of the latest fad!!) is "nothing-shotrof superb"!!! So, what are you guys trying to say, that a normal hindi movie is upto the quality of a "Saving Private Ryan" or a "Schindler's List" when it comes to the script, a "Beethoven's 5th Symphony" when it comes to music and a "Jurassic Park, "Termintaor 2", when it comes to technical brilliance" , or is that there is "more " to it that meets the eye in Hindi Cinema that i cant see???

They ways of the Indian Film committee in deciding the National Awards is nothing short of a spoof of the Oscars. When A.R.Rahman comes up with a list like - Kaadhalar Dhinam, Alai Payudhey, Mudhalvan, Kanduknden Kandukonden in Tamil and then to please the National (Bollywoo, i thought this might be a better title for the awards) awards committee he comes up with a Taal and Thankshk- the whole world expets him to wrap up the awards- and lo and Behold the "critics" have the ears of a Mozart where they can feel Ismail Darbar's "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" to be a class apart from all the movies quoted above. I want to make sure this mail doesnt fall into deaf ears... I hope i am representing a huge representation of people here in the US who really appreciate Indian Cinema, that these so called critiques. If you can respond to this one, then i would be more than happy to find out the "magic" of Bollywood ,correct my eyees ane ears but never become a part of this cabal of senseless movie-watchers.

With deepest regrets,

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: cosmician (@ 194.170.1.75) on: Mon Nov 19 14:27:21 EST 2001
  
  The Rediff review was done by one Mr. Swaminathan who had earlier written some crap on the same site about ARR....the difference between the thinking of the North and South is vast...take for eg. the films of Manoj Night Shyamalan (a southie)...it is more of a writer's film...in contrast look at Tarsem Singh (The Cell) - he is a very visual guy...both are mindblowing in their respective areas of expression...and both are Indians and that makes us proud.
  
  Agreed Abhay has a story with unnecessary sequences...but overall it has to be appreciated for its unconventionality...it is really an amalgam of various genres.
  
  
• From: Sathish (@ 129.42.208.144) on: Mon Nov 19 14:38:05 EST 2001
  
  Hi suresh,
  
  I just now read the reviews that you suggested and they were a lot more realistic. They analyzed the goods and bads of the movies. I agree to these reviews or maybe a harsher version of these reviews too. But here his hard work was appreciated. Thats what I wanted. The film might be even one of the worst some might have seen. But you got to appreciate the talent.
  
  Thanks for suggesting those links.
  
  regards
  Sathish
  
  
• From: suresh (@ 202.88.155.34) on: Mon Nov 19 23:06:17 EST 2001
  
  Hi Satish,
  
  I'm not too sure if we can suggest a general trend to under-recognise south technicians by the north media. Kamal can't complain with all the +ve press he's got. So too, technicians like Maniratnam, Rahman, Ram Gopal Verma, Santosh Sivan, Raju Sundaram, Priyadarshan, etc. have all been elevated to near cult status in the north. I think that both the scathing reviews in rediff and outlook were written by southerners.
  
  There are exceptions, maybe a bit more to our dislike, where mundane Hindi muck gets reviewed better than even some of the gems from south. Especially so with music, which has for long been a sore point with many IR fans. But if you look at it carefully, ARR was the 1st to achieve the right mix of innovative music with hindi-friendly nuances, and to that extent his music as a package was very well designed to carve a niche.
  
  Cosmician
  Did you think that 'aalavandhan' would've worked if it were a 90-120 minute movie, with the romance sequences and songs deleted, and the animation trimmed to a more interesting length?
  
  
• From: cosmician (@ 194.170.127.161) on: Tue Nov 20 02:13:43 EST 2001
  
  Yes Suresh..
  
  The problem was that Kamal had attended a Screenwriting workshop in the US and so Aalavandhaan had to undoubtedly start with the Hollywood style "hook" opening...the Commando operation in Kashmir....it should have actually started with the kids ( a wonderful opportunity was lost here)....as there is an certain unwritten law of screenplay writing that states that the moment u resort to a flashback, mostly it means that your narrative is weak.....very true after the audience were trying to recover from an extensive Time and mindbending ABhay's LSD trip....in the 2nd half the long flashback had them squirming in their seats.....
  a total arrogant overlooking of audience understandiing by the Director and Screenwriter..
  
  The second problem was they couldnt make up their mind whether to keep the movie as a thriller or musical..."one thing at a time and that done well, is a very good rule that anyone can tell."
  As a result, some wonderful musical pieces by SEL has been lost...
  
  1 more thing the LSD trip should have been a part of the "Manidhan Padhi and Mirugam Padhi" song in the begining and should have been got over with the song itself....at least we can get to see those technical stuff when the song is played on TV....
  
  All this IMHO
  
  
• From: Karthik S (@ 164.164.82.29) on: Tue Nov 20 03:43:29 EST 2001
  
  Isnt it true that Suresh Krishna (and Ghost director Kamal) have got the idea of an animated sequence for the violent and LSD trip scenes from Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers? I sure think so! That makes it another point that leads to the Hollywood angle.
  
  As Suresh had said, the movie could be marketed really well if it ran for 90 to 120 minutes like any other international movie. Its high time Indian film makers get over the idea that they need to conjure every emotion in one film and that too drag it for 3 hours. 3 hours of Kamal Hassan (two, at that) is heights of self-indulgence!
  
  
• From: cosmician (@ 194.170.127.161) on: Tue Nov 20 06:11:31 EST 2001
  
  Karthik
  
  I'd not seen Natural Born Killers..i wanted to badly..but missed that ! Do you think Nayak also suffered a similar fate in the North ?
  
  
• From: cosmician (@ 194.170.127.161) on: Tue Nov 20 06:13:21 EST 2001
  
  I mean losing the pace in the 2nd half...though I really thought it to be a well made film.
  
  
• From: mahabs (@ 203.197.138.163) on: Tue Nov 20 09:23:32 EST 2001
  
  well
  
  the question is not about aalavandhaan. it is about northie's mentality. they have this complex.
  
  i read in the review of minnalae's remake abt. hj's music. the reviewer said the music is average and usual 'southern trap'!
  
  kamal and aravind swamy are appreciated because of their 'aryan' looks!
  
  of course, we people feel happy when southern talents are given a pat on the back by northies!
  
  anbudan
  
  mahabs
  
  
• From: cosmician (@ 213.42.0.242) on: Tue Nov 20 12:21:41 EST 2001
  
  mahabs..dont u think that this whole thing about Aryan and Dravidan was concoted by Brit Historians to keep us split like they used the Hindu-Muslim weapon ? If southerners look dark etc. it is bcos of the climatic variation...north had suffered long years of conquests and occupations so you find a lot of mixed blood and looks there...that is all that there is to it..but many are still ignorant....like IR sang in Aandan Adimai - "Nilavukku ponnalum angeyum Jaathi varum"...all this differentiation stems from the human mind...a dog's tail that can't be set right..just there for us to understand and keep going....
  
  
• From: UV (@ 134.113.201.4) on: Tue Nov 20 13:05:08 EST 2001
  
  well said cosmician
  
  
• From: kalpana Iyer (@ 203.199.248.20) on: Tue Nov 20 13:09:52 EST 2001
  
  Summa North i Karichu kottadheenga.....
  Pakkathil Chennai born keralite Santhosh Sivan i vaithukondu 12 crore budget il Sharukh made complete epic of ASOKA and made prifit in both domestic and overseas territory
  Anal Kamalukku MARUTHANAYAGAM Edukka 50 CRORE Vendumam....IPPO Sollungo Genius Sharukh...illai Kamala?????/
  
  
• From: -Senthil~ (@ 192.76.80.75) on: Tue Nov 20 14:36:57 EST 2001
  
  Cosmician:
  "Hollywood style "hook" opening...". In Hollywood they do not use that to hook you up rather it is "first inciting incident" or generally idea of jumping right into the film and let the audience know what the movie is about or to give an idea what is going to come later or sometimes referred to as "Big Setup". Maniratnam has used this in Roja, with first few scences exploring kashmir and Wasimkhan capture and coming to love angle. he also used it in Agni* to good effect. So it is not new. And Kamal has been looking into cool "Hollywood" style ideas for long time...he is big time into screenwriting. I think he will deliver oneday...if not in near future.
  
  Hey I greatly liked your idea of starting the movie with the brother(as juvenile) and then jump into the film. It aptly fit the "Inciting Incident". For the rest is gonna follow up is because of the difference in the character of the brothers. I think it would have been a great start. "Pearl harbour" did this with young friends flying a fighter. You might want to watch that.
  I also agree with your Flashback "effect" on audience. If there is onething that killed Indian film industry more than anthing than it would be flashbacks. You seem to know quite bit about screenwriting.... do mail me if you want to discuss(debate :-)) more.
  
  ~Senthil~
  
  
• From: unmaivilambi (@ 63.75.49.120) on: Tue Nov 20 14:42:20 EST 2001
  
  To even compare Sharuk and kamal, in my opinion is totally wrong since Sharuk has to grow a lot in stature. He made a absymal Phir Be as his first production and followed up with a so called film on Asoka which is neither a love story nor a historical nor a interesting movie. Santosh who made a gripping terrorist could not come with a fairly good movie inspite of bigger budget. The film is a washout everywhere except Mumbai(where it is average inspite of being sold at a very low price)
  
  

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