Bang in the middle of 2015, we seem to have acquired a unique vantage point into the world of Bollywood and the films we have been treated to so far. The past months have been interesting.
For one, there hasn’t been a single film from the famous Khan triumvirate and yet our visits to the theatres have been steady, regular and hugely entertaining. Obscure gems have come to rule our hearts while some big budget, star-loaded films have been gobsmackingly rejected.
Damsels in Distress? Sorry Who?
It’s a message loud and clear to the self-obsessed Lords of our industry. Playing the damsel in distress is so passé. One of the best things to happen is how the binaries of Hero and Heroine are being slowly nudged away.
Vidya Balan’s inexplicably meek and forever crying Vasudha of Hamari Adhuri Kahani is thankfully an exception that too ferociously frowned upon.
In YRF’s Dum Lagake Haisha we have the character of Sandhya (Bhumi Pednekar) who refuses to crumble under the rejection of her husband. Here is a woman secure in her skin who prefers to walk out of a loveless marriage than be insulted by her husband and in-laws.
Anushka Sharma did not just don the mantle of a producer in NH 10, she also picked up the cudgels to fight off the goons who accost her on the lonely Gurgaon route.
In Dil Dhadakne Do she holds her own and even Priyanka Chopra’s character is allowed to respectfully walk out of a marriage that tries to straight jacket her.
In spite of having the towering presence of Big B, Piku still belongs to Deepika. As the financially and sexually independent Piku or the tough nut Datto in Tanu weds Manu, this new transformation is more than welcome and long overdue.
The Pen is Mightier Than Propaganda
Could Tanu Weds Manu have been half as entertaining without the marvelous writing of Himanshu Sharma? Could we have been able to cherish the brilliantly etched out character of Piku and her curmudgeon father had Juhi Chaturvedi decided to give it a miss?
The answer is an emphatic No.
The audiences have become unforgiving and the ‘Friday Frontier’ can only be crossed with the perfect font from the writer’s pen. It’s the kind of drubbing Hamari Adhuri Kahani and Miss Tanakpur with their abysmal screenplays would remember for a fairly long time.
“Formula” on Ventilator
Listen closely and we can hear the dying gasps of the much abused “filmy formula”. There is no ‘masala’ that can guarantee box office success anymore. In fact if anything, it’s the deviation from the beaten track that is getting the moolah flowing.
The stale tale of ‘Hero killing villain to marry heroine’ left little to be praised in Tevar. Alone with it’s regular horror film motifs couldn’t save Bipasha’s sinking ship.
Nana Patekar and his usual idiosyncrasies made Ab Tak Chappan 2 go away without a trace. Ranbir’s female fans did not get impressed with Bombay Velvet and the song and dance routine could not do much for Dolly ki Doli.
Baby, on the other hand enjoyed reasonable success with Akshay playing his age and the film ends without a love angle thrust in. Badlapur is unflinching in its pursuit with Varun Dhawan trying his level best to stay away from his star persona. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy pushes Sushant Singh Rajput out of his comfort zone. NH 10 has no songs.
Vanity Bows to Reality
An over-weight Yashraj heroine - Bhumi? That’s a first. Also a hero without 6 pack abs – Madhavan/Irrfan? That’s new too.
Anushka without makeup in NH 10 and Kangana with those horrible teeth! An industry that has almost always set unreasonably high standards of beauty and good looks is no longer afraid to look real. These stars are going delightfully real with every new release. A far cry from the ‘not a hair out of place’, pan-caked existence of the past.
We’ve Become Hard to Impress
Ahem! Is it time to pat ourselves on the back because we have grown smarter? At least with the kind of films the majority of us are rooting for we have definitely helped set the bar very high.
No longer are we impressed with just the superficiality of a Bombay Velvet. A badly researched Hawaizaada doesn’t capture our attention. We will not tolerate an incoherent Roy just because our favorite star is in it. Even Amitabh Bachhan and Dhanush’s Shamitabh didn’t go down well with us.
From highway murderers to tales of bowel movement, the romantic 90’s to the present day post shaadi conundrum we have become hungry for some good, original cinema.
Could the tectonic plates be finally shifting to shake many from their slumbers and come up with some ground breaking stuff?
Things certainly are looking up.
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