The difference between us and Hollywood

He runs through his adversaries, pounding on them, ripping them apart. He then pulls out his sword that’s stuck in between two walls, swings it around effortlessly as the two vampires near him fall down in a heap of ash. As a finale, he touches down his sword and poses at the height of his style….

He jumps on to an elevated platform revealing his own vampire canine teeth and roars “Frrrrrrrrrrrosst!!!!”

This action block that heaped up awards stars Wesley Snipes in the most iconic role he ever played – BLADE.

Now what makes this particular sequence stand out?

A good, macho black actor with rippling muscles and a history in martial arts? Rock music with electric guitar in the back ground?  Intense and original action choreography?  Cinematography?  The build-up to the scene?  Or was it sheer luck from a writer with an experience in spell-binding scripts?

Why not all of these?

Indian movies… at BEST can make a cheap copy of it.

‘Cheap??!!’

Well yes! Of course my dear, you heard it right – CHEAP!  But wasn’t this movie shot 13 years back? Am I telling you we can’t even make a neat copy of it now? Yes I am. J We simply do not have the raw, jagged edge to make even a good, clear copy of this movie.

Welcome to reality.

In India Movies are just more than entertainment. They are part and parcel of our life primarily, because we need something to bring us out of our lives. Indians as you know are not the luckiest of creatures .…. end of story!! No long holidays… no wax-on wax-off relationships, no choice of entertainments. The only let out was cinema. Things have changed over the last few years – all but our interest for cinema and the quality of it.

There is supposed to be a thought process before something is done. A major part of the Indian movies do not seem to have them. A screenplay fails the second people get tired of what is being shown on screen. Direction fails when there is nothing original and special in it. When hard work and a small thought process has gone in the making of a movie – it shows!

Like the ‘Underwater march’ in Pirates of the Caribbean 1.

There is horribly low effort put into all the script writing and direction as far as most Indian movies are concerned. Exceptionally few people churn out meaningful movies with good scripts. I feel the best movies made here are the ones that are made with a certain Indian flavor and tinge to it – A major reason why directors like Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam, Fazil, Rajkumar Hirani etc., are celebrated as the best.

There are a few reasons stated by the movie industry as its weaknesses. No points for guessing them

1. No good producers – Money is always scarcer than Hollywood.
   

2. Intelligence of a majority of the audience
   

3. Preferences of the major Actors
   

4. General sentiments and trust on the ‘Formula’
   

This and a lot more reason explain our lack of enthusiasm to venture into new pastures. Money being scarce can be accepted as a rare excuse. India has a long way to go before we make a movie like ‘Troy’or ‘Titanic’ considering their gigantic budgets. But in many cases huge budgets have been sinfully wasted into almost nothing. Like ‘Blue’ for example. The most expensive Indian movie ever made has little to boast of, save AR Rahman’s music and Kylie’s guest appearance. You don’t need a huge budget to make a movie like ‘The Memento’

Actors are to be blamed for being selfish many a time. True. We don’t have many generous Brad Pitts and George Clooneys here.. willing to do a lot of experiments.

Audiences evolve only with good movies. Without good movies, where is the space to evolve at all? A major part of our audiences are illiterate. For this it only seems logical that the movie must be simple. Not stupid. It is about time film makers understood that. Formula was itself a concept that was framed by a lazy but terrific mastermind who gave people a flow to go with. Lets at least change that.

Leave out good scripts and good direction. Where is our creativity? Where are we with the aesthetics? Do we give in the hard work to make the movies look good? We have some of the best art directors and Camera-men in the world. This list is endless. But still we are unable to create a magic that Hollywood does with utmost ease.

One reason I can see for this is the USA’s long relationship with comics. Marvel and DC are household names in the USA. Hollywood’s creativity has been immensely influenced by the dramatics and beauty that their comics gives them. I can only imagine how much David Goyer and Guillermo Del Toro would have sweated out before bringing out Blade – 2 to the screen. Maybe they think and think and think before they even step in and buckle up to explain the sequence to their leads. Dialogues are written with so much care and concern that they make the movie worth every penny you pay.

The Wachowskis set off a whole new trend in Indian movies with their costumes in The Matrix. Soon every Indian movie had stars in long black, shinning over coats and sunglasses, something that really suits the Indian weather. Not to mention dodging bullets and flying stunts. Guys!… Think!!! A movie like The Matrix is not just about the style.. its about substance as well.

Steven Speilberg got a name for being a good director not merely with the budget of his movies but by the distinct technique of direction which he adopted. It would be hard to believe that Jurassic Park and Munich were directed by the same man. Akira Kurosowa carved out a place for himself long before many countries even ventured into film-making. Stanley Kubrick set a whole new standard for perfectionism.

Its been more than 75 years since we ventured into cinema and we are yet to catch up with hollywood. When we are not going to look for any creativity but just an excuse for it, we will never catch up with them. Good movies are not just made with ideas, blood and sweat – they are also made with passion.

If we cant make a movie like ‘War of the worlds’ that’s just fine. We are far behind in CGI effects and budgets…. lets continue making genuine,original movies with a nice Indian flavor like Munnabhai,Taare Zameen par,Mozhi,Manichitrathazh,Paruthi veeran,etc., to name a few.

And if we cant ape them, at least lets stop making cheap copies.

It pained when I saw Cutler Beckett’s punch line ‘Its nothing personal.. just good business’ come from Ajith in a movie called ‘Billa 2007’