Aaja Nachle: Greatest Lesson for Bollywood

The verdict is in: Aaja Nachle has failed. This is definitely a wake-up call for Bollywood.

First of all-- the reason Aaja Nachle failed was because it had a poor script, lack of strong character development. It was filled with cliche dialogues, too many songs that took away from the story, and great actors that were completely wasted.

The thing is-- this movie could have been monumental. A 45 year old single mother (Madhuri Dixit's character) was the protagonist, a rare feat in Bollywood. The film was not another Mother India or any sort of Bollywood tragedy where the actress is crying the whole time or is faced with extreme injustices-- it was supposed to welcome an era in Bollywood where producers would make films that could stand with a female as the lead in mainstream masalas.

But, this didn't happen. And as this movie fails, people are labeling it as a failure for Dixit, for whom this film was a comeback. The problem in actuality is that, although the concept for the film was fresh, nothing else was. Along with Dixit, there were at least four other mainstream actors and three mainstream actresses. This is a typical Bollywood technique-- fill the movie with surprise guest appearances and other stars to make it more marketable. The film wasn't a failure for Madhuri-- but for Bollywood's mainstream masala formulas.

Many are using this film as an example of Bollywood's glaring problem of how to deal with actresses that are too old to be love interests but too young to be mothers of 20- some actors. Aaja Nachle was an attempt to try a new "formula." But the problem rests with this idea of a "formula." The film was horrible because of the script and the addition of more than four love stories and many more subplots in the film. It should not be viewed as a Dixit failure, or a queue that Dixit should be done with Bollywood.

Aaja Nachle shouldn't make the industry shy away with having older women as protagonists in mainstream cinema-- but it should make Bollywood realize that the same routine techniques for hits that have been used throughout the 1990's and 2000's will not work. Aaja Nachle was one of the most anticipated films in Bollywood for 2007 because of Dixit-- nothing else. That being the case, Bollywood needs to stop following the "formula" and be more innovative.

Bollywood: Obama-ishtyle

I never thought the day would come when I would see Barack Obama, Prabhu Deva, Aishwarya Rai, and Rani Mukherjee on one screeen. Alas, I was wrong, and after watching this video, I have no words. Enjoy!

Adolescent Bollywood

Seems like Bollywood has matured, but still has a long way to go-- or so says Naseeruddin Shah, one of Bollywood's most respected actors.

In an interview with Reuters India, the actor says that, "I do not think our industry has matured but yes the attempts to experiment with different subjects, different themes have surely gone up."

Shah is known for his brilliant acting in off-beat films, and flourished in the parallel cinema movement of the 1980's.

So, how can Bollywood mature and grow? With the producers, of course, as I stated in a previous blog. "A lot depends on the producers... They should support fresh content and push originality. India has some very talented directors and they can do well with the help."

Redundant story lines and dialogues and over-the-top romances should no longer dominate Bollywood. There has been some progress, especially in 2006. Even this year, progressive films have become marketable. But, there is still a long way to go.

Producers need to start taking risks-- or Bollywood will always be stuck in its adolescent stage.

Less is more, Karan

A film about the struggle of a Muslim man after 9/11-- cliche, I think-- but not for Bollywood. The film industry finally decided to cover the subject, but who has decided to make the film?

It's a much talked about project with none other than Karan Johar-- master of commercial and big budget movies that make loads of money and could be so much better minus the over-the-top emotions and unnecessary drama. So, will Karan Johar be able to pull this movie off? Or will it be another film that ends up with a scene filmed on the lead actor walking around Times Square reminiscing about the time he was taken off a plane while a sad song plays in the background?

Whatever comes out of this project, "My Name is Khan," I do have to applaud Johar for not making another film about love and its hardships. Hopefully- he'll learn from the failure of his last movie, and learn that less is more.

Bollywood's Favorite back in jail

One of Bollywood's favorite actors, Sanjay Dutt, returned to jail on Monday, Oct. 22. He was convicted of possessing illegal weapons and having relations with the underworld in India. But the crime that he was charged with did not take place a month, or even a year ago. It happened thirteen years ago-- and at that time, Dutt spent sixteen months in jail.

The court finished examining his case in August, but Dutt was released on bail. Until now, that is. He was convicted with a six year sentence, one that seems quite harsh, seeing that the court decided that Dutt was not a terrorist or a threat.

Of course, the media is intently focusing on the story. But what I find more interesting is the emotional involvement of the common man-- from taxi drivers to doctors, everyone has been praying for Sanju Baba (as he is fondly called).

Both of Dutt's parents were extremely popular movie stars, who had strong Congress Party connections. Because of this, many politicians, such as Sonia Gandhi, have come out in support of Dutt.

I don't know if the court was fair or not to Dutt-- but I will definitely miss Bollywood's favorite Munnabhai.

Bollywood's Regression

In the 1980's, Bollywood flourished with parallel cinema-- low budget films with incredible depth, void of the masala and commercialism of today's films. As we see a glimmer of hope with some films taking a risk, one such director of one such film zeroes in on the problem. Director Anurag Kashyup of the forthcoming "No Smoking" said this in an interview:

"Yash Raj has the power to change cinema. We don't. We've been trying hard. But Yash Raj can do it overnight. Yash Raj changes, our cinema changes. But they choose not to change. They choose to stay in their mediocrity, just counting money. Everybody is doing business. That's fine, but they are making us regress.”

Although big names such as the director Karan Johar, were quick to criticize Kashyup, he is definitely correct. Yash Raj productions make films like "Ta Ra Rum Pum," "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom," and "Neal N' Nikki," movies that are, in Kashyup's words, "mediocre." Yash Raj Productions are the most powerful production company in Bollywood, yet they do not challenge themselves to take risks, which they can definitely afford.

Kashyup also said that "Chak De India" was a good move forward for the company-- but it was an "apologetic release... They didn't have faith in it. For the first time they didn't ask for terms and conditions with the exhibitors. If they had faith in the film they would have played on the front foot."

Kashyup also said that his distributors had to make the film more "marketable" by Bollywood standards by including a famous actress in an "item number" to promote the film, a concept that Kashyup believes Yash Raj has the power to change.