A wonderful piece from PFC…
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On most cases a film will have a happy ending rather than a sad ending. That is a fact. I do not have the stats to back that up, though. People say, a happy film ending means a happy audience, and that means, kerching! Or Shah Rukh Khan of Om Shanti Om would say, a film is incomplete if it does not have a happy ending. So would it be fair to say that writers/makers think of the happy ending before they even start to write a film? A sad or open ending is not likely to work? I am not a writer, so I do not know what process goes behind deciding an ending of the film.

In my filmi opinion, if a film does not have a good ending (Note: A good ending does not imply happy ending), then the film has a very good chance of failing at the box office. It is not how you start but how you end. If you want your film to stamp a solid mark on people’s mind, then the film needs a good strong end. No? Well, I have not liked many films because of its ending – it was either lame – or – they played it safe. I don’t posses a filmi knowledge to come up with a list of Best Endings, so I will just write about a limited films I have seen. You know like, Why I liked the ending or why I did not….

Bluffmaster - A decent film. I have not seen the Argentine film, which was copied, if I had seen that film, and then perhaps I would not have liked Bluffmaster. But anyway, it is the ending of the film that I did not like. The ending was very obvious – you could tell from very beginning. I would have preferred a different ending - a surprise ending. How would you have liked to end the film? I actually would have liked a bold ending – Abhiskek getting conned in a serious way – not in a ‘making him a better person’ way. After watching the film, it felt like, erm, like you are waiting for a firecracker/fountain to go off but it does not… it all goes… “feeeetoooosh”.

Mixed Doubles - another decent film but has a crap ending. It is a usual shite urban film – and has a few good moments. Again you know what’s the ending going to be like before you even start watching. I do not like that. Sometimes I do not mind that, but in this case… I did not like, albeit the ending had a different treatment. I would have preferred Ranveer actually getting what he wanted and then Konkon Sen divorcing him. That would have left a strong mark on the audience and maybe would have done better at the box office.

Munnabhai. I just about like the film but would have liked it a lot if the film did not have a lame – melodramatic ending. It just makes me cringe – hide behind the sofa. I did not like the Gracy Singi giving Boman Irani a lecture after Munna Bhai gets fed up with all lying and then, the drunk scene that was a bit funny due to the jokes, and from no where Munnabhai’s parents come from the village. I was lost. I stopped the film their – I did not wanted to watch the ending cos it was a waste of time. I do not even remember the ending of Lage Raho Munnabhai, which had a stupid ending than Munnabhai MBBS. This is one of the reasons why I do not own a DVD of Munnabhai. Please don’t shoot me for this! Or my taporis will be after you!

It is not that a Goonda would not like a soppy happy ending. I do like it. To name a few, I liked the ending of these following movies: Swades, Lagaan, Socha Na Tha, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Khatta Meetha, Rangeela, Waisa Bhit Hota Hain, etc, etc. (I have not seen that many (good) films, so you will see me repeating these films on frequent basis!)

Khakee – a brilliant cop movie – a complete masala cop film. The film was brilliant from the start to the end. It had a right dosage of humor, fiction, songs, and realism. It also had a few surprising features and one of them was the ending. The film worked because of the ending – it played a pivotal part in getting appreciation from the audience and critics. The ending made the film a slightly different from other cop films. The film would not have worked if it ended at Ajay Devgan getting a life sentence, in my filmi opinion.

Rang De Basanti – it has a typical hindi film format – first half all flirting – a shock before interval - and then all seriousness. The film would have flopped if it also had a typical ending – they getting caught and then getting a lenient from the government. Fortunately, the film had a brilliant ending – which you possibly could not have predict it. If you did predict the ending, then you are lying. They all dying, Roobaroo song playing in the background, they planting a tree, a young Bhagat Singh. The ending could not have been any better.

Sadma – Some of the credit of this film being a classic should go the ending scene – the best scene of the film. Kamal Hasaan chasing the train leaving in a hope – keeps falling down and then going into his own world……. This is the only scene from the film I remember vividly and it does not want to leave my mind.

Satya - In my filmi opinion, the ending of this film is the best I have seen. It touched me heart. I was speechless after watching the movie. I still am; I do not know how to describe the ending other than repeating, “It was brilliant”. It was brutal. It made me have sympathy from Vidya to Kalu Mama. That is you call a good ending. That is life!