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The
Oscars are the biggest thing in Hollywood. This
year the Oscars were hosted by Ellen Degeneres,
a ‘samlaingik’ female comedienne. In past couple
of years the shows were hosted by Chris Rock and
Jerry Seinfeld. Their presentation was funny and
forceful – often taking jabs at the current
administration. This time this outlet of
expression had been watered down by the choice
of a host whose own personal agenda (to promote
‘samlaingiks’) eclipsed the loftier goal of
calling a spade a spade like her predecessors
did.
The show was flawless. Everything was
choreographed to the last detail. There was no
confusion. Things seemed to flow so smoothly
that sometimes one had to be very alert to catch
one event transitioning to the next one.
All the celebrities were interviewed for a
couple of minutes as they came in. No one had a
politician in tow. They all were unassuming and
humble. The biggest ovation went to those who
had engaged in philanthropy either during their
careers as actors or after their retirement from
the industry. It was an awards program and only
the people in show business were there. You did
not see any ‘prominent citizens’ there for the
entertainment. Also, there were no labourers and
/ or support staff. If there were any they were
as well dressed as others there at the ceremony.
I could not help comparing it with our awards
shows. Yes, we have come a long ways from where
we were 10 years ago. That progress, however,
has been on the material side of things. Better
lights, larger stage, more special effects
technology. However, we are still where we were
a decade ago when it comes to the attitude and
cultural aspects of the whole show. Ours has the
air of a ‘dhamaal’. Our crowds are noisier and
undisciplined. People come late and disturb the
show by hauling their hulk painfully in front of
others attending the show. In our shows people
are out to show off their affluence. Social
Status and Hero worship shows big in our
ceremonies. It looks crude and vulgar. Of course
there are no philanthropists in our movie
industry.. so that aspect is also sadly missing.
Yes, a Rolls Royce or a Mabach may bring
distinguished guests to the function, but they
don't have any thing ‘humanitarian’ in their
resume. In many of our acts, there is a pathetic
attempt to ape Hollywood. In last night’s Oscar,
apart from a turbaned Sikh, there was no hint
that there existed an Industry larger than
Hollywood on this earth. Yet we ape. One entry
for ‘Canada’ called Water by one Deepa Mehta was
there – lampooning (in the name of highlighting)
India’s negative side in a Satyajit Ray style.
Sorry folks, the world may think so, but I never
considered Satyajit Ray to be a great filmmaker.
To me he was merely a peddler of India’s
wretchedness, of which there is a large market
abroad. Anyway, Water got washed out. I guess
Deepa Mehta burnt in the ‘fire’ of jealousy but
I did not feel sad... why should I ? It was a
Canadian entry after all!
I am not trying to be critical of our
ceremonies. I am pointing out where our
deficiencies are. We make good films, but for
little lack of attention to detail, these films
can not be lent to your neighbours abroad. There
are stray dogs roaming everywhere, or piles of
trash are plainly visible. If it is not that,
our actors are acting silly on some locale
abroad. Can’t trash be picked up before a film
is shot ? What about putting the ‘best foot
forward’ ?
We need to overhaul our appearance to the rest
of the world. A western moonwalk dance number
does not do any good. And stray dogs and trash
and people crowding a scene of an accident to
stand and gawk damage our image a lot. I wish
some film maker reads this article and makes
movies that Indians abroad can feel proud in
recommending to their friends and neighbours.
Kabul Express is a good movie, but it too has
the ‘lasciviousness of the Circuit character’
that is seen as perverted to the audience
abroad.
There is a need to make our movies cleaner in
aesthetics and content. Fire, Water and Earth
kind of movies are not good for our image. There
are boarded up houses and junked neighborhoods
in the US, but a movie is never shot completely
about the people who live in the squalor. We
need to take that lesson.
There is also a need to get the pomp out of
award ceremony. Everyone should come as equals.
And Politicians, Seth jis and Ministers can
watch the show from home.
Finally, we need to focus on our awards and
bring our home made creativity in making them a
success – rather than trying to ape Hollywood.
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Comments: |
Very well said. Call me old
fashioned but I thought the low
point of the Oscar was when Melissa
Etheridge (the winner in music/song
category for Al Gore's An
Inconvenient Truth) referred to her
lesbian partner as her (or is it
'his'?) 'wife'. Yuck!
I also agree with Mr. Aarcee on the
way award events are held in India.
What's with inviting politicians
(Thackeray in Mumbai, Janardan
Sigriwal in Patna - just to name a
few) to award shows? It's like
bribing them to ensure the ceremony
goes smoothly without any
disturbance.
Loud with a capital L is what Indian
award ceremonies are.
As for Deepa Mehta's 'Water', I
wondered myself why she is being
touted by the Indians when the movie
officially came from Canada. Just
because the movie (a poor one at
that too) was shot in India does not
make it an Indian movie.
Speaking of the so-called 'desi'
movies made by the so-called desis
abroad (NRIs), has anyone seen a
movie called 'The Guru'? No, not the
one with Abhishek Bachchan.
(Available at Blockbuster/Hollywood
Video in the US). This film is made
by some NRI idiot who got some
no-name wannabe actor to play the
lead role and somehow managed to
rope in Marisa Tomei (she must be
desperate for a few thousand
dollars). Let me put it this way -
don't see this film with your
children/grandchildren around! What
a poor portrayal of Indians...
Interestingly, the entire movie is
in English but all the songs are in
Hindi. Apparently these NRI
filmmakers haven't yet learnt the
art of writing/singing songs in
English! - Anil Kumar - Feb. 27,
2007
‘India’s negative side in a Satyajit
Ray style. Sorry folks, the world
may think so, but I never considered
Satyajit Ray to be a great
filmmaker. To me he was merely a
peddler of India’s wretchedness, of
which there is a large market
abroad. Anyway,’
Have you seen ‘Charulata’, Agantuk,
‘Gupi gayen’ ‘Sonar Kella’ and other
movies by Ray or you have just seen
‘Pather Panchali-trilogy and Ashoni
Sanket and based your opinion of
RAY’S style? Everybody is entitled
to their own opinion but Satyajit
Ray is an institution and when we
see this kind of statement about him
its clear that the person is totally
ignorant about Satyajit Ray. -
Neena Gangulee - Feb. 27, 2007
Very good article Mr. Aarcee but I
don't think Jerry Seinfeld ever
hosted the show, though I do hope he
does host the show. Nobody does
comedy like him. Personally, I did
not like the Chris Rock's jokes
either. Too much of sarcastic jokes
based on race for my taste. The best
part of this year's show was the
Pilobolus dancers making cool shadow
shapes, collection of Ennio
Morricone music and finally finally
Martin Scorsese getting his award
even though I think Goodfellas was
lot lot better than The Departed.
I wouldn't be caught dead at desi
awards where Amitabh Bachchan and
SRK had big fight just because their
seating were not according to their
status. It was bad enough but now
Amar Singh presence in all these
awards shows makes it worse and
quite unbearable to watch even. -
Ravindra Kumar - Feb. 27, 2007
Selling pictures / movies showing
poverty in India is akin to
prostitution in the name of poverty.
There are many poor people who work
hard to earn their daily bread. They
are hard working, honest people who
are not looking for shortcuts. There
are the other lazy people who will
rather sell their women's bodies
than work hard as it is no work and
good money. Selling the nakedness
and poverty of India abroad is a
dirty, unpatriotic way of making
quick money. The world sees India in
very poor light and when it abuses
Indians we complain loudly about
racism. Who put fuel in the fire of
racism? - Rajesh
- Feb. 28, 2007
As a white, Canada-born Canadian, I
have to say that I loved Water. It
is a "people" story about a time and
place in history. It does not
portray India in a bad light. The
movie was factual, based on reality
and it was beautiful. When Gandhi
says "I once thought that God was
truth... but now I know that truth
is God". That is so profound. I was
sitting in the theatre crying my
eyes out. All cultures and countries
have their "dirty little secrets"
(for lack of a better phrase). My
family is British... need I say
more?? I watched Lagaan with Aamir
Khan... it definitely portrayed
Brits as a bunch of jerks. It would
be pure ignorance to generalize a
whole mass based on one movie or
book or song etc. I did not watch
the Oscars... the whole Hollywood
scene bugs me. Are the Bollywood
ones called the Desi awards? I
wouldn't mind watching them. Watched
Rang de Basanti; that's a great
movie!!! - Katie Lowe, Ontario,
Canada - Mar. 1, 2007
Ms. Lowe may have liked ‘Water’, but
I still think that there are a lot
of things about India that are
wonderful which could be portrayed
to the outside world. Every society
has its weakness and it deals with
them internally. Every family has
some strife, but it is not allowed
to go out of the four walls of the
house. You always open the door to
greet the visitor with a smile.
Water maybe good only if its
audience is limited to Indians who
can see a reflection of their
hypocrisy in it and mend their ways.
Shown to the outer world it becomes
a circus that demeans Indian
society.
Movies like ‘Mississippi burning’,
are great. Americans can see it and
understand how bad things used to be
for the African Slaves. Shown
elsewhere, it portrays the White
Americans as predatory opportunists.
So, there are certain things that
are best kept and discussed within a
society and other things that one
reaches out to the outer world with.
It is like dressing up to go to an
interview. You would not like to
walk there in your nightdress
without combing your hair, would you
?
Also, Lagaan did not portray all
White people as 'bunch of jerks'.
There were two jerks in the movie.
The White jerk was the British
Captain, and the brown jerk was the
character 'Lakha', who, in collusion
with the British Captain, agreed to
sabotage the game. The Captain's
sister was shown to be a lady with a
strong sense of fairness and
justice. It can not be argued that
her stance was such because of her
romantic involvement with the
character played by Amir Khan,
because, the romantic angle was
introduced much later after she
expressed her indignation to the
unfair and mean behavior of her
brother.
I appreciate Ms. Lowes interest in
Indian Culture. I liked Rang-de-basanti
myself, but took exception to the
unnecessary use of bad language. I
would recommend Kabul Express, Veer
Zara, Mangal Pandey and Viruddh to
Ms. Lowe.
Also, the Indian Film awards are
several. There is the Filmfare
award. There is also a DaDa Saheb
Phalke Awards. - Aarcee - Mar. 3,
2007
Mr Aarcee, I am not sure how
in-depth your knowledge about World
Cinema is, but your comment "India’s
negative side in a Satyajit Ray
style" is probably one of the most
appalling thing I have ever heard
especially when I see a bunch of
folks in this forum talking and
discussing about Oscar Awards and
Indian cinema. Aarcee, to give you
the most simplistic idea of what
Satyajit Ray's magnitude of
cinematic knowledge, sense and style
is, I would suggest that you read
this http://www.satyajitray.org/about_ray/critics_on_ray.htm
Now, I am sure you might not have
known giants in World Cinema like
Akira Kurosawa or Elia Kazan, so I
wont discuss any further about
CINEMA in general with you.
Just to give you a sense of what
Ray's films are to any serious
film-maker or an art connoisseur in
general is that if you add the
essence and significance of any of
your 5 favorite films then the
combined effect of such will not
even equal to a single frame in any
of Satyajit Ray least significant
film!!!
I would highly recommend that you
study Ray's films before commenting
about him or any other person of
that stature; else you should limit
your thoughts and ideas to
commonplace Bollywood song and dance
films that you are feed with. When
you talk about a personality widely
regarded as a GIANT of 20th Century
World Cinema, and whose admirers
include Kurosawa, Steven Speilberg,
Martin Scorsese and George Lucas, it
is wise to have a deeper
understanding and knowledge about
Cinema to have the dare of
commenting anything like you did. -
Soujatya Das Gupta - Mar. 14,
2007 |
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