Monday 17 March 2014

Blur Hype, Focus Substance




Cinema-making and viewing has undergone a sea change since its dawn in India. So has been promoting and publicizing it. During early days too, films were promoted but their ways and tools were far more primitive and extremely limited. 

Previously, films’ posters and other outdoor media were the major tool used for promoting any film. Another means popular during those days was mobile promotion through auto rickshaw in which there used to be an announcer visiting every localities promoting the film and invoking the public to watch it. 

Among the mass media, occasional and rare stories in print medium and infrequent promotion in radio were the only ones to reach out to masses. Also, focus was more on pre- production and production stages of the film with less attention being attributed to the promotional activities.

Today, the face of promotion has transformed completely. Actually today, Cinema as an art has been lost somewhere and the concept of a commercial version instead and show business has stepped in. 

Today, largely, films are made and promoted in the name of actors and stars, rather than script and direction. It has become an indispensable fashion to promote every film through its lead pairs. The most sought after promotional medium, nowadays, is Television, and particularly, the most popular TV show- ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ and the alikes. It has become the obvious rostrum to promote the upcoming Bollywood films.

However, this new trend is itself questionable. The statistics show that even today films become hits and fair well in box office only when they have tight script, intelligent direction, over- the-top- presentation and powerhouse performance of the actors. 

There can be innumerable examples where films which have been heavily promoted everywhere, of course, through the actors, faired very badly and incurred huge losses. Some prominent examples from the recent times could be RA.one, Kites, Aaja Nachle, Jai Ho, Zanjeer (new), among others. 

All the mentioned films had superstars who have huge fan following, but still, they could not attract public to the theatres resulting in financial failure at the box office.

In contrast, films like Kahani, Vicky Donor, Madras CafĂ©, and Lunch Box turned out to be box office marvels, despite their normal promotion.Thus, the bottom-line is that substance is the heart of any movie. Of course, promotion is necessary as things have changed today. 

Still, what has not changed is the reason for success and failures of the films. There could be certain exceptions in this regard, but exceptions, however miraculous they may be, can’t be generalized.

Hence, film- makers need to introspect and think twice before investing enormous bucks in the promotional activities. Rather, they should invest more in creating quality works that includes in- depth study and research and creative visualization before presenting it on silver screen.

Sunday 2 March 2014

‘Because you are our LEADERS’…



The downward slope of the graph of morality and socially accepted behavior among our ‘respected’ politicians got a further dip with the recent statement by Salman Khurshid on Modi. His ‘impotent’ remark on the BJP prime ministerial candidate is certainly not acceptable. Being a representative of the people and holding such a significant office in the cabinet, Khurshid must have thought twice before giving such immoral statements publicly. It was more bewildering when he openly said to the media that he has done nothing wrong in calling Modi so.

Well, this is not the first time when our political leaders have flaunted such cheap gesture. Before this, Congress MP Digyavijay Singh has been hogged into limelight several times for articulating inappropriate terms for their opposition. And not only Congress, politicians from almost all the parties have invited controversy with their passionate statements in the recent past.

The trend is really not going down well with the people of this country. This time maximum number of youth will exercise their franchise in the coming general election and with the rise in awareness and education level, it is obvious that these self destructing acts will certainly take a toll on the parties’ performance. The politicians must not forget that there is an intense fire burning within most of the people to see a positive change. Hence, these cheap criticisms and diatribe thrown to one another will give a wrong message to the change seekers and might become counter- productive too.

Secondly, leaders are the ones who are looked upon. They are admired, adored and loved by the common masses. But when these leaders start behaving like a common people, complaining and reacting to every petty issue, it compels to question –‘are they our leaders in real sense’? They are meant to set an example, a benchmark for the rest of the country through their balanced approach in dealing issues, managing crisis and also countering their opposition. But, unfortunately they are not.

Politicians need to realize that their public image, public speech and public appearance are in constant vigilance by the citizens. Hence, they must abide by the decorum and learn to behave responsibly.