The movies that the Hindi film industry has produced lack both skill and substance, especially in comparison to south Indian films. This is largely due to the self-created bubble of the Hindi film industry which keeps it away from the stark reality
Hindi cinema appears to be disconnected from its audience, disillusioned in its perspective of Bharat, and disingenuous towards the very craft it aims to propagate. If ever someone has to give an example of a myopic worldview, then the Hindi film industry comes to our mind. It appears to be paralysed both at the skill as well as vision level. This utter failure of the Hindi film industry gets obvious in front of non-Hindi movies, especially those coming from Tamil, Telugu and Kannada industries.
The home-fatigued cinema lovers waiting anxiously to go out to theatres chose non-Hindi movies over the old and half cooked outputs which the Hindi film industry had to offer. The same is reflected through the massive box office success of films like KGF: Chapter 2, Vikram, RRR and Pushpa and also through the love showered upon 777 Charlie, Pawankhind, etc. The films which the Hindi film industry produced lacked both in skill and substance. This is largely due to the self-created bubble of Hindi film industry which keeps it away from the stark reality. Let’s observe some of the cinema in the previous couple of months to understand the issue a little more.
In the last couple of months, some of the biggest failures of the Hindi film industry clearly demonstrate the latter’s lack of depth and also detachment from Bharatiya society. Let’s start with Jayeshbhai Jordaar. Bharatiya society which celebrates and respects valour and courage is reflected through a coward protagonist — and the title speaks of him as ‘Jordaar’! The heroes of Bharatiya society have always stood for ‘Dharma’ and have even sacrificed their lives for it. But, according to the Hindi film industry, the hero of Bharatiya society is Jayeshbhai Jordaar who believes in running away rather than facing the problem head on. There is a serious disconnect in how Bharatiya society sees its heroes and how the Hindi film industry wants to portray one. The movie aims to highlight the issue of female infanticide and women oppression in the society. The messaging seems honorable but the depiction of it entails a wretched journey.
There were multiple flaws in the movie. First was the timing. The movie came at a time when ‘hijab’ and ‘burqa’ were hot topics, but the movie focused on ‘pallu’ and ‘ghunghat’ which have since the last two decades been the core of messaging around women empowerment in the Hindi film industry. The film had nothing new to offer, instead it went on its own entourage of stale ‘gyan’ around the subject. A private matter between couples such as a ‘kiss’ became the central theme of the movie. The producers and directors of the movie need to actually go to the villages and understand the dynamics between couples before producing such content.
Another movie, Dhaakad, touched on the issue of child trafficking. It was again a very sensitive topic. The movie had a lot of scope for presenting something new to the audience. But, what it delivered was a poorly researched world that had countless loopholes. The movie focused on creating a fantasy around its stars rather than knitting together a gripping story. The direction, the screenplay, the soundtracks and even the over-the-top acting accounted for a regrettable and forgettable viewing. The movie was made to create a female action hero rather than highlight in detail the issue of child trafficking. The movie failed on all fronts.
Going further, another movie which failed miserably was Jug Jug Jeeyo. The film made for family viewing told a story of a couple living abroad and their rich parents in Bharat. The movie didn’t resonate with a normal middle class family audience which entails the largest audience. The movie clearly highlighted the dire need for filmmakers to move out of their bubble of south Bombay and their fantasies around foreign concepts of family problems in Bharat. Issues which the film aimed to highlight among couples didn’t resonate much with the family audience. This was another example of not knowing your audience on the part of Bharatiya filmmakers. The movie neither pleased the urban audience nor the rural one.
Another movie that was an agonising watch is Shabaash Mithu. The film was poorly scripted. It was made to show the acting skills of an actor. The pain of watching such a biopic is the utter harm it does to the actual star, Mithali Raj in this case. Poor Mithali Raj was failed by the Hindi film industry, much like Bharatiya society.
Moving further, propaganda movies like Anek also failed miserably at the box office majorly due to their messaging as well as content. Anek is poorly researched on a very sensitive topic. The movie paints the entire North East in one umbrella without realising the diversity of the region. The movie has several slurs against the current dispensation on issues of Article 370, Kashmir, handling of the North East, etc. The movie has a confusing story line and misplaced dialogues.
Shamshera is the latest film to join this list of utter disappointments. The film depicts a villain with explicit Hindu symbolism in British-ruled Bharat. The movie is not only poor in its execution but is highly disillusioned in its perspective. In the age of the Internet when people are aware of the subtle propaganda and also Bharat is going through a renaissance, movies such as Shamshera hit all the wrong chords. There is no point wasting too many words on the movie. One can summarise the experience of the movie in one line: Watching it makes one feel that Jug Jug Jeeyo was a magnum opus!
The Hindi film industry seems to have no redemption point. The writers are detached from Bharatiya ethos and samskriti. The content which is being created is neither resonating with the urban nor the rural audience. There is an urgent need for filmmakers to address the aspirations of larger Bharat by shunning their myopic lens. Bharatiya society which is going through a renaissance, reflects an awakened Bharat which will never accept anything derogatory about its rich heritage, history and samskriti. But the new writers seem to be completely detached from their roots and they focus on storytelling through their glasshouses of Bandra sea-facing apartments, knowing the whole world through Google. The Hindi film industry is failing its own audience. These filmmakers can take a cue from R Madhavan who made a film, Rocketry, which is doing well in all languages, including Hindi, because the content has a people connect.
The writer is Executive CCO, VSK Mumbai, and Advisor, VESIM Literati Festival, Prabuddha Bharat Belagavi, Khajuraho Literature Festival. He tweets from @MODIfied_SKP. Views expressed are personal.
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