Does a Commercial movie exist?

Posted on October 9, 2010 by ramcsays

Once, on TV in a press meet I watched an Interview of a Director of Telugu cinema, he was quoting that his upcoming film has full of commercial elements and it’s an entertaining film. I watched the film after its release, and then I was in bizarre situation thinking what commercial elements are? Were those crappy things the director and Producer were quoting as commercial elements?  The film bombed at the Box Office but there was no loss to the protagonist of the movie but the fate of the director went into question. And let’s not discuss about the producer, let’s pity him for now. The director is out of offers now. So too much of so called commercialization made the movie look like this?

Yes it’s definitely is.  The reasons I think are the cause…

  1. Hero’s introduction song or the title song – No connection to the movie or the story , but just for the sake of having a song on title and of course huge spending for this which is truly unnecessary.
  2. And also coming to the songs category, six song formulas, wtf is happening in Telugu movies, are six songs must?  When the movie itself went off track and the people get bored a song appears on the screen which annoys audience to the heights of their patience.
  3. Large sets – The director only knows why these are needed? As without them the movie can be made and most important can be made interesting. But why these. Exception – some movie like ‘Okkadu’ or ‘Arjun’ where it is required and has some meaning. But why a set in Sainikudu , Balu , etc.
  4. Unnecessary romantic or vulgar romantic scenes, I would like to quote few films like ‘Okka Mogadu ‘ Saleem’ etc. Which make the movie even more worse.  It looks like a tale of perverts.

Lets end it as there are never ending stories if we go like these.

But what are the post effects after making a movie like this? Producer will create a hype before releasing and later an unsatisfied disappointment. This in turn makes the producers to demand for ticket hike in theaters and this in turn encourages Piracy to a little extent. If the ticket price is low some may try to go to the movie in spite of watching on a small PC with camera print.

From my opinion a movie is not just an entertainment quotient it’s an Art, Art of Visual Communication. Commercial word is just a word in dictionary used by makers to participate in an ocean of competition.

Are there no movies which are hit inspite of not involving those point mentioned earlier? Yes there are :

Thanks Krishh for giving movies like Gamyam and Vedam, thanks to Deva katta for his Prasthanam, thanks to Chandrasekhar eleti for his Aithe and Anukokunda oka roju . Who told people never accept these movies, I am referring to a director whose movie won a National Award and now he blames people that “People are not accepting change so why should I continue doing movies like these? And he made a so called commercial movie – which people rejected more than what they did for his other movies.

A Story + A Star+ Big Budget = Commercial Movie.( May be good or bad)

A Script + Perfect Screenplay + Perfect Direction = definitely a good Movie

If the same movie above is made with a star, let’s take it as a commercial movie:  It will be block buster.

A star cannot change the fate of the movie if nothing is good!!! Accept?

Lots of difference between a script and a story

Bottom Line: There is nothing called a commercial movie or art movie, only movies exist!!! Mind It!!!! QGM

P.S : The above points may be right or just blunder, but that is what i think…

Posted in My Reel Experience | 2 Comments

Road,Movie – My opinion

Posted on March 6, 2010 by ramcsays

Road, Movie – A typical movie which is possible to be made and will only be made by some experts.  Dev Benegal comes under this category. So, art movie lovers, this is for you, if you are really interested in a genre of artistry then this movie is the choice. Apart from the other commercial movies in the previous year and this year Road, Movie is a literary genre. This shows or rather compares the life style of urban people and the people far from the urban areas. How rural areas people live, their life styles, their attitude, their interests are perfectly shown in this movie. And importantly what is “MOVIE” to those people.

Set in Rajasthan, The ‘Road’ movie is about a rendering journey of Vishnu (Abhay Deol) who never wants to step into his father shoes who sells oil. He helps an old friend to deliver a truck ( which has a movie projector – mobile theater) to a place and in the journey he meets a boy who works in a dhaba, and also the boy wants to go with Vishnu where ever he goes to change his career ( used to this word being a S/W engg :D) . Then he meets and mechanic – Satish Kaushik, whom Vishnu calls Chacha, they go along the “Road Not Taken” and come across things which surprise them. They drive across the villages of Rajasthan, Vishnu comes to know that people are not same everywhere, their comforts are not same and the life style is not the same. In his journey he meets a girl (Tannistha Chatterjee) who goes in search of water. He meets Mafia leaders who smuggle water and sell it at a higher price, but Vishnu succeeds by his deeds in negotiating with the Mafia leader (Yashpal), with his oil in return for water, which he distributes to all the villagers.

Here, I ripped off the story and presented here as the story did not matter here, the pictuarisation is the matter to be discussed here. Cinematography by Michel Amathieu’s c creates frames of sheer beauty and the screenplay crunches with some tender and brittle humor. The music, the background is pertinent to the subject and I bet if you watch the movie you will definitely notice the difference from the other movies and this movie especially with the Music, the frames – the photography and real depicted life of the rural people and the consequences they encounter. But this movie is not for all, folks it comes under a different genre and the people who like this movie will be a minority (only few).

What can be taken from this movie?

In my view I have taken some things, the condition of our country, planet, people who are alienated.The below points are depicted in the movie.

  1. This movie depicted the dried land of our country where people travel and travel miles to just find out where can they get water.
  2. It depicted the desperate rural people alienated to their destiny cannot even compared to  the present urban life styles, what all we get here , how much comfortable zone we are in ,but still complaints.
  3. We see a movie in multiplexes with popcorns and drinks in other hand, but for some people out there, movie is a wonder, it is the reason to smile. Here if do not like the movie we don’t accept it and in this movie it is shown that people are do not have complaints even when a different movie is played in between of another movie , they just see with a smile on their face.
  4. We roam in AC and party in the night whenever we wanted and we get whatever we wanted, there people just travel hundreds of miles bare footed just to find out any water deposits.
  5. Relation between people who they meet at tough times.
  6. “Just do not think of your self think of others , be self less.

Okay, enough of GYAN what I got by seeing this movie, but this is what exactly Dev Benegal wanted to show in this movie, so let’s accept it.

Drawbacks of the movie:-

  1. The beginning of the film is really interesting, but loses its focus in the mid way.
  2. Low on story.
  3. Lack of depth in characters.
  4. The romantic part between Tannistha and Abhay is kind of loose and is not enough convincing.

I think for a movie like this the above points may not hinder for what they wanted to show but will make people bored (again just considering majority of people so not taking a shot saying this).

Groovy points about the movie:-

  1. Cinematography.
  2. Music.
  3. Simple and plain script.
  4. Short.
  5. Some of funny and roller costar dialogues which are spontaneous.

Bottom Line: – It’s a movie of its own kind, it’s a movie of critiques, it’s a movie which comprises of few viewers, it’s a movie of Film festivals, it’s a movie of Abhay, It’s a movie of Dev Benegal. People who don’t like slow movies ,artistic movie , it’s not a cake for you.

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Ye Maya Chesave – Charming!!

Posted on February 28, 2010 by ramcsays

After a very long time I saw a movie which made me feel good, made me think and remember the scenes in the movie again and again, still I am writing this review thinking of how good the movie is made and I bet that it will definitely leave a smile on your face till the end and even after. Yemaya Chesave, It’s also one of the few films out there that tell a complete story. There’s a well-defined beginning, middle, and end. An important point to mention here is the Music and the Script were in such sync that both helped each other , like we cannot think of any other song in any situation except that song which is being showed. Wow it’s Awesome; it’s the Director – Music Director’s movie. It is one of the best films I have seen in this genre. It’s a movie; you can relax and let flow over you with a gentle smile on your face.

There is nothing exceptional about the storyline of the movie . It still made the audience interesting because of the way the director handled the much used subject. While there is a liberal dose of emotion used in the film, it still manages to retain the interest of the viewers till the end. Karthik (Naga Chaitanya) charms the role of charming rustic boy and woos Jessie (Samantha Ruth Prabhu) in the movie. The couple knows that they hail from drastically different backgrounds (Hindu and Christian) but still they get attached to each. Initially Jessie will never accept that she is in love with Karthik. However, their parents play spoilsport and creates hindrance in their blossoming romance especially the Girl’s father. The girl is thrown in a dilemma; she has to choose between her fiancé selected by her parents and her lover: This is where the directorial talent pitched up. It’s a normal love story, but one should see the way the story goes on with the confused mind of Jessie and the romance between them.

Yemaya Chesave is a gentle romantic tale in the midst of blockbuster action films released this year and goofball comedies. But you do not have to wonder if Yemaya Chesave stood a better choice for the audience in this period kicking back other films. Easily the best thing about Yemaya Chesave is the believable chemistry between impressive leads Chaitanya and Samantha and Samantha has proven herself to have genuine versatility and this movie is a perfect debut for her. It’s been done before, of course, but this movie does it much better than most. Those who love teen romances will enjoy this film, but don’t overlook it if the genre doesn’t usually appeal. This film will please a much wider audience than one might expect especially the Youth.

My Goodness, Samantha is really beautiful and it was felicity watching her on the screen. Naga Chaitanya showed his maturity with this kinda subject, improved a lot lot from his debut movie Josh. The dancing skills represented by Naga Chaitanya are good the foreign pop choreographers have done a good job in making him dance and the steps were awesome. The locations shown in the songs are spectacular and the cinematographer should get the credit for capturing them in his camera. The scenes shot in kerala are making audience the cinema more than once.

Music: Maestro AR Rehman

It is one of the, in fact the top reason for why this film has impressed many. AR Rehman – God he is simply superb. He made the magic with his tunes for 3 songs especially (Hosanna, Kundanapu Bomma, Vintunnava). Aaromale, Aakasam are really good to listen.

Director: Gautam Vasudev Menon

He is the hero of this movie. This speaks what he has done to the movie.

Bottom Line: Just go and watch it once, if not twice.

PS: I am in search of my Jessie J

Posted in My Reel Experience | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

Karthik Calling Karthik – Review

Posted on February 27, 2010 by ramcsays

After the smashing hit ROCK ON!!! And then a lull Luck by chance, Farhan Akthar is back with a hatke movie – Karthik Calling Karthik. It’s definitely a thriller, which promises to keep the audiences on the edge of their seats. The movie truckles at a dawdling pace and when the suspense is unraveled, hits you not as a bolt but as a gentle whack. Farhan Akhtar is turning out to be a brilliant actor. And of course Deepika Padukone is simply awesome in the Movie.

Coming to the story, the protagonist Karthik (Farhan) is a shy, gutless guy improbably short of confidence seems destined to mundane, monotonous life with an unfulfilled desire to fall in eyes of Shonali (Deepika) who works at the same place where he works. Shonali is a fashionable uptown girl who lives life elegantly dating and partying. She just takes life as it comes and will be dating a colleague in her office. She never noticed Karthik in her office as Karthik is the proverbial loser. She notices him when Karthik gets fired by his boss. He will be having more than 1K unsent mails to Shonali to express his love towards her. After he gets fired he spends his time alone in his home for hours, then at a point of time he gets a call on his Phone( Land line, Karthik never uses a mobile as he thinks that the radiations are danger for his health). The other side will be Karthik talking to Karthik, Karthik eventually as the loser Karthik to take the advice of the admonishing, super confident Karthik and who promises to change his life for better. What happened after wards? Did he follow his tips? Did he get any job? Did he get the girl he wanted? BTW who is the other Karthik? The movie tells the rest of the things.

Performances were awesome in this movie, especially Akhtar putting in an absolutely terrific performance as his character undergoes a transformation from a shy, retiring underdog to a suave winner. He is absolutely stunning. His anguish at being unnoticed, exploited and squashed by all was well shown by the director and the actor has made justice to this character. Deepika – I did not understand Deepika’s character (Shonali)in this movie, she dates many ‘Jerks’ who dump her at later time and still wants to find her prince charming. At a point she says that Karthik is a safe and she can never imagine him misbehaving with her like others do, but she says she can teach him as “How to Misbehave”.  In a scene Shonali bawls out at Karthik saying that he called her and abused her, So is this what Karthik thinks of her even when he loves her? This is not important but just a logical point where you need to see the movie to understand this.

The director had made his best to narrate his script but the movie is unnecessarily musing and long-winded for its genre. But one thing the movie keeps you much intrigued with what will happen next. The director had made the romantic interactions as sluggish and uninspired, but he is successful in showing the anxiety, simplicity and frail features of his protagonist. The music by SEL(Shankar Ehsaan Loy) is splendid. The photography has gained its marks.

Bottom Line:  It is a good movie that deserves one time viewing.  Watch it!!!

Posted in My Reel Experience | 6 Comments