new age movies

sadhuji

There was this hit movie of the sixties in which the great guitar-carrying singer Cliff Richards was the hero. He sang practically all the songs, strumming on his guitar. It was a simple story of a group of boys and girls out on a Summer Holiday – yes, that was the name of the movie. The backdrop was a double-decker bus and the antics of the members of the group did not appear to be something out of this world, they were young and bubbling with enthusiasm. Nearly half a century has passed since then and, what was the rage in the West then has settled on us Indians now – practically every other movie has the same boy meets girl theory. The songs and dances continue unabated and the rich gets the poor or vice versa seems to be the accepted norms. Variations are few and far between. Our aging heroes and heroines love to play act roles of the teenagers. We are still in the fifties! When it comes to movies where violence is the theme, we still have those easily forgettable song and dance numbers that are invariably out of place. The reason for their inclusion is that even if the movie flops, the CDs of the dance numbers can make the producer break even. The promos are full of suggestive motions and innuendos and, because these CDs are released much in advance of the final product, they find readymade markets. Hence, the producers are gainers in any case. Jokers are an inseparable part of any movie: the days of type cast ones like Johnny Walker or Keshto Mukherjee or I S Johar have given way to the hero who doubles up as the joker. Similar to the heroines: once the roles of vamps were played by a select number of artists, today the heroines themselves have taken on that additional responsibility – advantage once again to the Producer: he does not have to shell out money on two counts.

Another trend that seems to be raising its head and calling for attention is redoing old time greats – we had the color version of Mughal-e-Azam. Now, Taj Mahal has hit the screen and people are waiting for Sholay. But, all said and done, remake of a hit movie of a particular period is not like remixes of popular old time favorite songs. The movie seconds will not have the appeal of the originals – good storylines can certainly have different interpretations and be presented in different ways. But, the success of the originals cannot be taken for granted for the subsequent versions.

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mooning over a moon journey

jyotirmoy

Yes I see your point Sadhuji. It is like this with people who had seen the old classics when they were released. For the much younger generation the technology of yester years, music, cinematography etc. may not have the same attraction. In a fierce commercial scenario the producer has to resort to measures that will help him to earn money on his investment.
Talking about great story lines & different adaptations one brilliant example is Satyajit Rays adaptation of Tagore's Nasta neer in making his Charulata.
Regards.

cyberhippie

LOL Your getting your stars crossed, Sadhuji It was Cliff Richrd that starred in Summer Holiday a big star in Britain but not quite the collosus that Elvis Presley was


So how does the newer Devdas measure up against the Old one I've only seen the newer version with SRK and without subtitles at that but the Drunken Dance scene is brilliant!!

ashishkec

Sadhuji just a small correction... 'Summer Holiday' starred Cliff Richard and not Elvis...

As an aside...'Sir' Cliff Richard spent his early days in the Lucknow cantonement where his father was posted... studied in the La Martiniere Lucknow... a fact that every self respecting music lover from Lucknow tom-toms everywhere... like I just did !!!

And yes, your point really holds true... Last year I bought the tickets for 'Mughale Azam' in black for watching the movie at Hyderabad... much like my father did decades ago at Delhi...

sadhuji

it was 'the young ones' - of elvis. sorry for the goofup and thanks for the correction.