Bollywood Bingo!

Prasad Abu BAKR

CINEMA: The Bollywood formula which seems like a convenient 'Mantra' to uplift the sagging local film industry is becoming a costly game to play, unlike in the early 50s and 60s when it was a more simple form of film making that one had to keep track of. At that time they were known simply as Hindi films.

But recognising the thirst of their film goers for more escapism, the Bollywood film maker incurred more money to create that dream world. Films like Sangam, An Evening In Paris, Love In Tokyo and many more were produced at high cost, flying in entire crews to Europe and other parts of the world.

Switching on to colour from the lame black and white images took Indian movie going audiences by storm. Today its technical master minding has, according to movie critics, surpassed Hollywood's supremacy over such matters.

So what audiences around the world are witnessing is an Indian product that have achieved a high grade in finesse in all aspects.

Looking into our own affairs one can see that India has had an undue influence over Sri Lanka's film industry since its inception, one reason being that its dependency in almost every aspect on the subject more or less from its teething stages.

Instead of trying to fall back on producing films that were based on low budgeted themes, even after such movies came into being during the 50s some producers stuck by the method of copying or borrowing ideas from our big neighbour who by the beginning of the '70s managed to find a substantial market for its films in a big way.

Clicking with audiences

India grew annually in its big-budgeted image taking over world markets, which was naturally possible owing to the grand scale response that every film received at the Box Office each time one was released.

When film-makers found that Hollywood products in the category of 'Mad-Max', 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'Unfaithful' were clicking with audiences, there were a spate of such films produced.

But making sure that the style was kept intact, the girl meets boy, song and dance, comedy and the happy ending prevailed even though the storyline remained identifiable with its hollywood original.

The Indian film marketing is totally based on the need of its vast audiences seeking escapism. Whether the total audience here expects the same from local films has remained within questionable brackets for a long time.

This is more evident when one sees how well some films based on humour have made a gross income. It can be also argued that some fans do retreat to live their fantasies through films, especially when it comes to snubbing errant, high handed politicians and their corrupt lifestyles.

Ranjan Ramanayaka's production of 'One Shot' stands more than proof because it won the award for highest grossing movie of that year at the Box Office.

Indian glamour

In comparison though trying to bringforth films that represent the indian glamour image has more or less failed. The director of one such films that was released recently has commented that local movie goers do not have a clear idea of how to enjoy a movie.

In fair response it must be said that nobody will want to go for the second best when one can view a full and more complete product from its land of origin for the same price or even for cheaper in form of CD, DVD or Video cassettes.

In this aspect directors in the calibre of K. A. W. Perera and H. D. Premaratne from the senior lot and more contemporary film makers such as Prasanna Vithanage, Jayantha Chandrasiri or Udayakantha Warnasuriya have a grasp over local movie audiences' aspirations; have triumphed one could say looking at the kind of wholesome products that they have managed to come up with during their career.

It is also evident that the expenditure that has to be incurred by a director to get his project off the ground is so high that it is an arduous task to find funds for the purpose.

Even if films are made on a low budget, the technical facilities that it calls for, in addition to processing (which invariably has to be done in India) calls for large sums of money.

The inability for government bodies to fund and maintain the number of film studios that we had in the past have led the industry to depend totally on foreign technical and processing facilities.

Vijaya Studio, S. P. M. Studio, Sarasavi Studio and Ceylon Studio were all fully operative units. While two of them were completely burnt down during the ethnic violence that erupted in 1983, the other two properties were closed down owing to total lack of funds to maintain them and also overall negligence.

Over 800 movies are produced in Bollywood annually, a decline from its mammoth 1200 during the first half of the 90s. High cost of ticket prices and the public getting tired of the same formula type of films are contributory factors for the decline.

There are also a contingent of young actors and actresses that have invaded the industry playing bolder characters for lesser prices, meaning that many stars of the recent past who have hesitated in portraying sex on screen have been replaced by those new generation of players.

Even though India imports a large number of English films it has been Hindi films that stayed at top right throughout its history. 'Titanic' during its year of release however, has been ranked along amongst the first five of the most income grossing films in that year.

Films such as Devdas and Lagaan in recent times were productions that were made on large scale budgets. Their success at the Box Office has left a question mark within film making circles of India.

As of today films are yet released countrywide but most of the modern productions are more dependent on their overseas releases besides making revenue on music videos and other publicity gimmicks.

Looking it at more squarely even the Indian film goer has become rather weary of their own products, probably owing to the long drawn formula style of film making.

Bollywood magic

Even if it is slightly on the wane within home grounds, the Bollywood magic has prevailed in other parts of the world. It has become a meeting point for so many Asians that live and work abroad, in fact it has become a common link; it is a magic carpet that transport Indians living abroad for an instant to their own homeland.

To other Asians it is a link with the east. Here in Sri Lanka too we have a number of Indian movies which open simultaneously with its worldwide premiere.

If one takes into account the many reasons why there is such a wide audience locally, the reason remains, first hand experience of glamour.

Today, unlike in the days gone by, all Hindi movies that are shown here are sub-titled in English but taking into account the small number in the country who patronise such cinema and their capability to read English poses the same problem as in the past and raises questions on their ability to understand the story line.

So, there are definitely many other attributes that in fact attract large local audiences to the film theatres to watch Hindi movies. The fashionable clothes, beautiful leading men and women, music and the breathtaking locations that the film has been shot on location are among the many reasons.

In fact our audiences in that aspect have the same reasons as their Indian counterparts to sit through an almost three hour ordeal that eventually ends well to the whole audiences' satisfaction.

But the indian film goer has one advantage over ours, they have a better understanding of the storyline owing to their knowledge of the language. Taking a long look at Bollywood of what it was and what it had become at present leaves very little room for anybody to ape it in such perfection.

This is a truth that pertains more to us at present than to other film industries of the few countries here in Asia, that too to the immediate few that surrounds India of which Sri Lanka plays a big role.

It is true that we have copied many a Tamil and Hindi films in the past but in the present context there are many obstacles that one will have to face if one is to remake a perfect copy of any contemporary Hindi film.

The first being the colossal budget and the instant recovery of such an incurrence during the first few days of the film's release. As for India this had never posed any questions owing to the vast network that a film gets released head-on in its first leg and simultaneous to its worldwide release which now includes Sri Lanka.

It is sad to note that there are certain directors that surface every now and then producing a substandard entity that hopefully can fit in place with, if not of a Bollywood production looking forward to probably making a similar impact as the real thing.

But it must be stated sadly that a string of such attempts in recent times has failed. To be unable to realise one's true value and potential is what can be seen as the main cause for such delinquent acts.

Not realising that many of our film makers and their creations have been recognised internationally can be cited as the other.

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