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This year has seen some abysmal productions, some “just there” kinds and a smattering of good ones. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, as the case may be), reviews and blogs have torn into some of the movies that have done well. Some horrible ones have just been put aside, dismissed, if that is the right word. I foresee some more in this category starting with “C Kkompany” or whatever the numerologically inane name is!!

Frankly, cinema, as we know it, and all of us discuss very energetically here, is going through one of its most difficult transitions in its history of 80 odd years in India. Let me put up some unpalatable facts here:

Arthouse or alternative cinema is not doing well in India and this is not just due to lack of viewer interest. It is also due to paucity of good stories, sharp film makers, committed Production houses and lastly an adequate store of good actors to walk those roles correctly. Commercial cinema suffers from all the above and more, directors and producers who have not been to hinterland India at all and know about Akola, Ranikhet, Anantapur or Palghat only when a gangster is killed there or a bomb blast happens in those places. So, they write the language of New York, Mumbai and Singapore. Even when they attempt something with the hinterland it comes out as muddled and cringe worthy as TASHAN. Ah! And when they finally plot a story in the hinterland, the language, characters and ambience becomes fake. By some huge boon from the lord above all this is also put right then we have the same stock actors having to enact the village or small town roles lending no newness to the story

Ex: all village based female characters are being enacted by Konkona or Nandita. Why? Simple question. But can I have a simple answer? No, because Andheri, Oshiwara and Goregaon rule. No casting director wants to take the trouble of moving out of the comfort of Mumbai, go to Meerut, Jabalpur or Kakinada to find talent anymore!

Look at our past and see the gems that have come out of the Indian hinterland. Rakhee came from rural West Bengal, Jayaprada from coastal Andhra, Waheeda and Tabu from Hyderabad and a host of others in the 50s and 60s who were brought into the Indian cinema from various small towns of South or North India. They created some memorable characters on Indian screen for us to remember and savour. Waheeda in Guide, Zeenat in Qurbani, Sharmila in Amar Prem, Jaya Bhaduri in Guddi, Tabu in Chandni Bar, Padmini Kolhapure in Woh saat din, Suchitra Sen in Aandhi, Konkona in Omkara or even Sridevi in Mr. India. They brought spice and talent to our movies, coming from various parts of the country. Look at now, of course many would say that Tabu and Konkona are still around, but why do always see the same carbon copies doing the same inane things on screen, even gyrating to the same way when any number crops up!

This was about the actresses. Now, about the actors. Firstly, it is so shameful that lately these actors have become dancers, item boys, gossip masters, dandies and story writers all rolled into one. Where does it leave the film? Why, because huge amounts of money ride on these guys. The Corporations want to sell their music, trailors, commercials, theatricals, overseas and video/TV rights in proper fashion and since there is no heroine who can pull this off all by herself, so my dandy man, come along, and perform better than Rakhi Sawant up there, we want to see you happening there. The actor does not shave, puffs his chest, rolls his biceps, purses his lips, tunelessly sings ARR ditties, wears tight shirts and a lot of bling, talks about some unknown fetish and just stops short of hugging a pole and strip in front of ogling audiences. WTF???

Now, count the real actors amongst them. Paresh, Irrfan, Kay Kay, Aamir, Zakir, Ranvir, Vinay, AB, Pankaj, Naseer, Om Puri, Sharman, Boman, Saif, Akshay and Shreyas deliver the goods reasonably. Some others like Ajay, Abhay, SRK, Anupam, Aditya, Govinda and Rahul deliver intermittently. The rest, well, I would reserve my comments here. I exclude actors without a body of work. So, I exclude the young actors debuting in the last two years. Also, the way they are being paraded, I do not see much hope for them unless one among them puts his head down like Saif and works really hard on himself and his performances. But what of the actors in other parts of the country? We have no knowledge of them. All right, the South exists in its own realm and so there is a Jeeva, a Suman Kalyan or a Mahesh Babu. But, having checked them out, I find no difference between them and a John. Hard working but acting….mmmm!! The rest of the country wallows in mediocrity – Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Gujarati, all of them. Marathi cinema has woken up after Dombivili Fast but actors are far and between! Sad scene.

Then we come to the hallowed directors. All right guys, I know you will protest that your good scripts are not heard, are not narrated, actors hear you during their makeup and lunch, actresses cannot understand if you speak in Hindi, a script based out of Buldhana has to transmuted to London before you have been given the signing amount (when they deign to give you that!), you want that Wang Kar Wai lighting, a narrative like what Nolan has done with TDK and these guys give you an edict, four songs, one orgasmic item song, even if you cannot fit that into the narrative, do put that into the and credits, get SRK or Salman or Ranbir or that Harman. As it is, Aamir and Hrithik have already refused you! So, there starts the grind of your career and you compromise all the way.

But, isn’t there a way to stop this slide. Hasn’t the actor Aamir and the movie Aamir shown a way out of this morass. Hone your craft, be so passionate so that relevant people do take notice of you. Work hard at alternatives because a plan has to condition failure in and make a film that is honest to our country, its sensibilities and its little nuances. Tell a good story, pick up good actors from anywhere, make them sing, cry, laugh, emote, fight, die or live happily ever after, budget be damned!

I am not professing here, not my place. But, movies like Khuda key Liye, Aamir, Khosla ka Ghosla and Black Friday have succeeded without any apparent compromise anywhere. So, there is no reason why you should start a movie like”Summer of 2007” and make those huge compromises that you have gone and done. The cast and crew, I am sure was eager, but what’s happened..your producer dictated things..or you wanted suddenly to appeal to everyone…heck!!!

Writers! They there? Where?…….Weren’t they the most important part of a creative pursuit or something wrong in the way the masters thought?

Let me bell the cat here. Say, if I were to give a director a thrilling story about a Radioactive coin collector at the Orissa – Jharkhand border trying to do a multi crore deal with ruffians from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bihar through an agent from Tirunelveli. What would my dear script writer and director do?

Can I have the forum please!