When will Bollywood & Shahrukh Khan grow up?
Unfortunately Bollywood can not call a spade a spade & they will take real issues like terrorism but weave an artificial story and create unreal characters. That"s why villains in these formula films don"t look like real characters of flesh & blood with a flawed logic.
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After a long wait, the much talked about Pathan Film is releasing this January.
Undoubtedly, there is a lot of expectations from the film & more so because of the flops that both Shahrukh Khan & Yash Raj Films have seen in the recent past.
In the beginning of the trailer it is announced that a terror gang is planning to attack India & it is such a terror gang " jiska koi maksad nahi, par sirf paiso ke liye kaam karte hain," meaning a terror organisation without a motive & only works for money.
My question to the maker & Bollywood is where on earth such terror gangs exist , who works without any motive?
Most terror organisations we know about like Lashkar e Toiba, Jaish e Mohammad, AL Qaeda, Isis etc have strong motives & are ideologically driven. These are all Radical Islamist organisations. In fact world wide the majority of terror attacks are executed by Radical Islamist groups & this has been found out not by me but a study done by Maryland University . In India , we know that these Radical Islamist groups have a motive of Gazwa - E- Hind.
Unfortunately Bollywood can not call a spade a spade & they will take real issues like terrorism but weave an artificial story and create unreal characters. That's why villains in these formula films don't look like real characters of flesh & blood with a flawed logic.
Actually Bollywood tries to play safe as they have huge audience in Pakistan & Middle East, to whom they cater.
Why at all then make a film like Pathaan, on a serious issue like terrorism and make it look juvenile with scenes picked up from Hollywood films & video games and a villain, resembling the villain from Dhoom 1 & seemingly still inspired by those villains of the 80's like Mogambo & Shakaal?
In the 80's when we were children, Mogambo kind villains worked but times have changed & audience today has exposure to world class content because of OTT.
Let me talk about an Israeli series called Fauda on Netflix . It deals with the conflict between the Israeli special forces & the Palestinian Hamas. All characters including the dreaded terrorists in the series look so real. Now, anyone , who has seen a series like Fauda, will not be drawn to the theatre to watch Pathaan.
May be many Shahrukh Khan fans will rush to the theatre but if the film fails to have the expected collection at the Box Office, Bollywood will blame the Boycott trend, BJP , RSS etc.
Instead, I feel that it is high time that Bollywood does some serious introspection.
A film like Kantara which got so much love from the audience, worked because it looked genuine, while showing the local culture of the Kannad & Tulu people. Though Kantara dealt with a regional story, it's simplicity, authenticity & novelty made an instant connect with the people all over the country.
So, Bollywood should wake up & realise that the same cliche, artificial & formula films can no longer appeal to an audience , who today has access to world class content sitting at home.
Gargi Nandi Roy
Undoubtedly, there is a lot of expectations from the film & more so because of the flops that both Shahrukh Khan & Yash Raj Films have seen in the recent past.
The trailer of the film is already out & has caught the attention of the people. However, seeing the trailer, the three things that came into my mind are - artificial, unreal & fake.
In the beginning of the trailer it is announced that a terror gang is planning to attack India & it is such a terror gang " jiska koi maksad nahi, par sirf paiso ke liye kaam karte hain," meaning a terror organisation without a motive & only works for money.
My question to the maker & Bollywood is where on earth such terror gangs exist , who works without any motive?
Most terror organisations we know about like Lashkar e Toiba, Jaish e Mohammad, AL Qaeda, Isis etc have strong motives & are ideologically driven. These are all Radical Islamist organisations. In fact world wide the majority of terror attacks are executed by Radical Islamist groups & this has been found out not by me but a study done by Maryland University . In India , we know that these Radical Islamist groups have a motive of Gazwa - E- Hind.
The only film that showed Radical Islamist terrorism with brutal honesty was Kashmir Files but it was badly attacked by the Bollywood biggies.
Actually Bollywood tries to play safe as they have huge audience in Pakistan & Middle East, to whom they cater.
Why at all then make a film like Pathaan, on a serious issue like terrorism and make it look juvenile with scenes picked up from Hollywood films & video games and a villain, resembling the villain from Dhoom 1 & seemingly still inspired by those villains of the 80's like Mogambo & Shakaal?
In the 80's when we were children, Mogambo kind villains worked but times have changed & audience today has exposure to world class content because of OTT.
Let me talk about an Israeli series called Fauda on Netflix . It deals with the conflict between the Israeli special forces & the Palestinian Hamas. All characters including the dreaded terrorists in the series look so real. Now, anyone , who has seen a series like Fauda, will not be drawn to the theatre to watch Pathaan.
May be many Shahrukh Khan fans will rush to the theatre but if the film fails to have the expected collection at the Box Office, Bollywood will blame the Boycott trend, BJP , RSS etc.
Instead, I feel that it is high time that Bollywood does some serious introspection.
A film like Kantara which got so much love from the audience, worked because it looked genuine, while showing the local culture of the Kannad & Tulu people. Though Kantara dealt with a regional story, it's simplicity, authenticity & novelty made an instant connect with the people all over the country.
So, Bollywood should wake up & realise that the same cliche, artificial & formula films can no longer appeal to an audience , who today has access to world class content sitting at home.
Gargi Nandi Roy