View From The Top (from Times of India)

Indian Cinema missed the train?

One hundred plus years ago, filmmaking came to India right after Lumiere Brothers did their historic Paris screening “ the train arriving at station” -then why India missed the train? Why do we stand alone on a platform?

In the age of net and jet, it’s a fashion to be global; software, biotech, gurus, ganjas… everything has export potential. But as far as our movies are concerned, tycoons have spread a false myth that Indian Cinema is booming abroad. Lets not make a mistake of translating what is fashionable novelty as our success.

Cinema came to India rivalling folk traditions. Then talkies killed the traditional performing arts but those forms were reborn in movies giving very much needed Indianness with songs and dance. This trend was further exploited by making movies which help people escape the daily grind to a dreamlike world where heroes can beat up fifty thugs and conquer a beauty in a wink. Where rich fall in love with poor, innocents are given justice…  A perfect world with perfect Maa, perfect Beta and perfect Bahu. Until here it was fine, India was adapting, adjusting, exploring.

Then came imitation of Hollywood. Our “innovative” industry went as far as branding its name as Bollywood. Its like calling Narayan Murthy, Nill Mates. The sad part is that the industry seems proud to be branded as Bollywood.

Indian cinema needs to do much more then that to be global. There are many roads to cross, many bridges to be built… and several to be destroyed.

If India has mythology bigger then mangas, sagas bigger then star wars, legends larger then lord of the rings; then why do we still look to west for imitation?

Why Hong Kong, Japan or South Korea does not face that problem?

Because, they try to be as much original as possible, both in their story and style. They can do what Hollywood can’t –experiment and invent. In last few years alone, loads of titles from these countries were released worldwide with massive critical and commercial success. Many of these movies were re-made as Hollywood blockbusters. Today Hollywood agents are scanning Asian festivals like Pusan and Bangkok to find next great idea, which they can remake. Does any one know of any Indian story or film being remade in Hollywood?

The truth, harder to digest, is other way round  –hundreds of Bollywood movies are direct imitation of Hollywood movies –Not to forget, Hollywood is tremendously suffering from lack of original contents. Last year only 6 % percent Hollywood movies were from original scripts, the rest were remakes, adaptations, sequels, prequels… Should Indian film industry’s role model be Hollywood?

Movies with song and dance are part of our existence they are here to stay but why do they fail to become universal? How can the director of the most commercially successful super-hero Indian movie can proclaim on a national TV channel that he made first part of his new film “little naïve and stupid” because that’s aimed at villagers and countryside. Isn’t that a shocking state of affaire? How little we know about our countryside? How we take it for granted that because we are urban, we are intelligent!? It is believed that any Indian village with population of 500 to 1000 people is capable of narrating one million stories. Then why do we have to remake South Korean “Old Boy”? If we do not understand Hanuman, how can we let a movie-poster scream “India’s first super-hero” across India?

Whether we like it or not it is Bollywood who REFUSES to let the Indian audience grow. India is totally ready to receive all kind of cinema -stories that entertain, inspire and educate.

Ages ago people neither ate Tadka Dal in Kerala nor Idli in Bhatinda. It’s all about developing a taste. Movies are not about medias, malls and multiplexes. Hong Kong action flicks are remade in Hollywood and have redefined the whole genre. Perhaps Indian cinema can reinvent itself like Japanese have done. Japan has beautifully integrated their mythologies, superstitions, beliefs and created originals cinema. Success of Japan’s ‘Anime’ (animated features) shook up the Disney. Japanese movies are ages ahead of their Hollywood counterpart. Japanese horror movies are far more innovative -and has reinvented the genre. If that Japanese “taste” spreads like their Sushis, it will destroy Hollywood’s monopoly. Thus US studios invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Japan to control the local giants so that ‘taste’ does not spread worldwide.

In short, If Italian invented neo-realism in cinema, German -the expressionism, French –the new wave; what did Indian cinema invent? Bollywood?

Indian cinema will be only global if it takes deep root in the Indian soil and then grows like a Banyan Tree sprouting other roots in other countries. Then that’s a giant banyan tree with roots spread all over the globe but soil and soul is Indian. A view from the top of any such tree will be universal.

Making global cinema demands honesty, demands profound perception of human life, demands an open mind, open heart. Ages ago our stories were universal, if not a child in Indonesia would not be watching Ramayana today. Our stories were timeless if not Tibetan would not be reciting Tantras.

If the Indian Cinema goes “Hollywood way” by becoming “Bollywood” then we are likely to witness a complete cultural disaster –only thing that will matter is how to get people inside the movie hall –once they are in, who cares?

- by Pan Nalin (as published in Times of India's View from the Top)