Definition of entertainment can be different for different people. Moviegoers in India are broadly classified in two main categories by ‘trade pundits’. Classes and masses. Classes are those who look for quality in terms of narration, direction, dialogues and performances. Stars, songs and grandeur are secondary to them. Where as masses are categorized as those who look for typical masala (read action, emotion, sex and violence). Do I subscribe to this typical categorization propagated by so-called trade pundits! Well yes if commercial success of a movie was of any major importance to me.
But I am a humble moviegoer and all I expect from a movie is some entertainment, so I always junked this concept of classes and masses. I always believed that a movie has to work at box office if it is good. But over the years, fate of some movies at BO forced me to change my opinion. There are some movies I enjoy despite watching zillion times. Yet, they were deemed commercially unsuccessful (or flop) at BO. On face of it, these movies had little or no commercial value but for some of us, they had tremendous entertainment value.
1942-A Love Story:
A story set in the British Raj era, it was a move about a love between daughter of a freedom fighter and son of a rich man overtly associated with the British rulers. The movie had everything it takes for an excellent entertainer. Fabulous acting by all actors and perfect execution. Even song picturization left an everlasting impact, so much so that I still remember each frame of the song – Kuchh Na Kaho. Manisha Koirala never looked more beautiful. When you look at her splashing water on the face with that innocent smile in the song ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga’, you will wonder how she wasted her beauty and talent.
On top of everything, Panchamda’s one of the best ever music, he managed to get out best from the otherwise monotonous and awfully nasal Kumar Sanu. When I watched this movie the first time, I couldn’t stop thinking about it for a week. That vulnerable face of Manisha Koirala when Anil Kapoor was being taken for execution refused to go away and it still refuses to go away.
Khamoshi-The Musical:
When this movie came out, I was desperate to watch it and to my surprise nobody agreed to accompany me. Finally, I managed to get couple of free tickets (again!) and that was enough to persuade my cousin. To my surprise the movie hall was half empty even during the first weekend! But I must say what I saw left me with a big surprise. Another Koirala movie that met with an unfortunate result at the BO.
The movie was about a poignant story of a deaf and dumb couple and their singer daughter. This is undoubtedly Sanajay Leela Bhansali’s best movie to date (Black doesn’t come anyway close to this one) and of course Manisha Koirala’s best one too. It is not quite often we get to see an authentic tragedy and this movie was a tragedy from titles to ‘The End’. The part of the movie I liked the most was the scenes following death of Manisha’s brother.
Mrityudand:
I am not sure how many Msians here have seen this movie, but I watched this movie just because I am a big fan of La Dixit and I have not missed any of her movies (including awful Gajgamini). The movie is set in rural Bihar where caste wars and oppression of lower castes by upper caste is rampant. Aided by the politicians and corrupt bureaucrats, the upper caste Mukhiya of a village suppresses the poor lower caste people. Eventually the women across the village group up and take the revenge on the Mukhiya.
What makes this movie a great watch is the amazing on-screen chemistry between Madhuri Dixit and Shabana Azmi. Both ladies have enacted difficult characters with marvelous ease. Prakash Jha’s narration is impeccable and the whole movie setup is authentic. Music was an unnecessary ingredient in the movie, nevertheless, I love one song from this movie – Keho Ekbar Sajna – Madhuri looks really charming in the song.
My Brother Nikhil:
I watched this movie recently after reading a convincing review by ‘Koshish’. The movie deals with the issue of AIDS in the most humane way. The movie also touches the issue of homosexuality in a realistic manner. In most cases in our Film Industry, the movies that deal with serious social issues end up being drab and like documentaries. This movie, instead, has an engrossing screenplay and storyline.
Onir’s first attempt at direction is incredible and he has managed to extract some of the best performances from the actors. Sanjay Suri, who has also produced the movie, deserves to win best actor award for the movie. Another authentic tragedy failed to make money for its distributors and producers. I wonder if moviegoers have lately become allergic to tragedies.
Lamhe:
Lamhe is one of my all-time favorites. There will be hardly anyone here who has not watched this movie. I think the reason why this movie did not work at the BO was because it was ahead of its time. The Indian audience could not digest a story of a guy falling in love with a woman older than him and that woman’s daughter’s obsession of him. Anil Kapoor and Sridevi gave arguably their career best performances. Yash Chopra’s direction was indeed classy.
The movie resulted in a loss-loss proposition in the end! Not only was the movie a financial loss (allegedly) for the distributors and producer, its failure at BO made Yash Chopra paranoid and he returned with substantially substandard movies like Darr and Dil To Pagal Hai. I hope we get to see a glimpse of that vintage Yash Chopra at least one more time.