Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Recipe of a South Indian blockbuster
Umpteen number of cuts, too many and manifold kinds of transitions, convulsing camera angles, usage of all sorts of sound effects, foot tapping electric numbers, choreographed calisthenics, lyrics full of slang words, gimmicking-over-the-top fight sequences, storyline filled with a bit of revenge - a bit of romance – a bit of humour, a glamdoll, an overpowering villain and omnipresent-omniscient-omnipotent superstar hero
Monday, July 23, 2012
Does 'The Kite Runner' remain true to its essence ?
Recently I watched 'The Kite Runner', the 2007 film directed by Marc Forster. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hossein. I haven't read the novel yet, so I really don't know how much the filmmaker has remained truthful to the soul of the story.
Has anybody read the novel and seen the film as well? Can the film be cited as the best adaptation of the novel? Has the filmmaker given the complete justice to the novel ? Is the film an exemplar of the way of making novel-based films?.... Your thoughts are welcome.
Has anybody read the novel and seen the film as well? Can the film be cited as the best adaptation of the novel? Has the filmmaker given the complete justice to the novel ? Is the film an exemplar of the way of making novel-based films?.... Your thoughts are welcome.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Business Man: from papers to screen
Recently I watched Mahesh Babu starrer Puri Jagannadh’s Business Man and it reminded me of the synopsis of this film Mr Ram Gopal Varma had posted on his once-upon-a-time active website, rgvzoom.com, I guess much before the film was shot. The synopsis was written in such a neat, tidy and impressive manner, that had I been the producer, I would have blindly invested my money to make this film. I was intrigued about this project particularly reading the line which says “the shooting style of “THE BUSINESS MAN” will fall somewhere inbetween the slickness of “COMPANY” and the entertainment quotient of “WANTED””.
I am deliberately sharing with readers the synopsis I had copied from the website.
Does possible impression of the 'Business Man' on paper and the 'Business Man' on screen comply ? Decide for yourself.
By the year 2010, the underworld as we knew it has become non-existent primarily due to the Dawood Ibrahim gang going legitimate in Pakistan, Chota Shakeel becoming completely inactive, Chota Rajan co-operating with the various government agencies, Arun Gawli becoming a politician and Abu Salem being put in jail.
The success of the Mumbai Police in wiping out the underworld has been so total and so complete that the Police Department even disbanded their encounter squad teams as they were of no further use.
These developments were carefully being studied and observed by an entrepreneur from the South.
He was like so many other innumerable entrepreneurs from all over the country who land up in Mumbai with dreams of reinventing business practices which have become outdated. But this particular entrepreneur’s business was that of CRIME.
He minutely studied and educated himself on both the shortcomings and achievements of every gangster that ever ruled Mumbai, ranging from Haji Mastan to Vardha Bhai to Karim Lala to Dawood Ibrahim to Chota Rajan and then landed up in Mumbai to become its biggest gangster ever.
He believed that there is no such thing as right and wrong and there is no such thing as good and bad.
He also believed that everyone in this world go through their lives in one way or the other only by making deals. Whether it’s between husbands and wives or between parents and children or between Godmen and devotees or between politicians and voters, life is nothing but about making deals. So as long as everyone is into some kind of business or the other, he decided that even crime should be treated and dealt with like any other BUSINESS.
Welcome to the new-age gangster.
The idea is to make “The Business Man” into a trilingual that is in three languages Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Unlike in the done to death rustic style of conventional gangster flicks the shooting style of “THE BUSINESS MAN” will fall somewhere inbetween the slickness of “COMPANY” and the entertainment quotient of “WANTED”
I am deliberately sharing with readers the synopsis I had copied from the website.
Does possible impression of the 'Business Man' on paper and the 'Business Man' on screen comply ? Decide for yourself.
Synopsis:
By the year 2010, the underworld as we knew it has become non-existent primarily due to the Dawood Ibrahim gang going legitimate in Pakistan, Chota Shakeel becoming completely inactive, Chota Rajan co-operating with the various government agencies, Arun Gawli becoming a politician and Abu Salem being put in jail.
The success of the Mumbai Police in wiping out the underworld has been so total and so complete that the Police Department even disbanded their encounter squad teams as they were of no further use.
These developments were carefully being studied and observed by an entrepreneur from the South.
He was like so many other innumerable entrepreneurs from all over the country who land up in Mumbai with dreams of reinventing business practices which have become outdated. But this particular entrepreneur’s business was that of CRIME.
He minutely studied and educated himself on both the shortcomings and achievements of every gangster that ever ruled Mumbai, ranging from Haji Mastan to Vardha Bhai to Karim Lala to Dawood Ibrahim to Chota Rajan and then landed up in Mumbai to become its biggest gangster ever.
He believed that there is no such thing as right and wrong and there is no such thing as good and bad.
He also believed that everyone in this world go through their lives in one way or the other only by making deals. Whether it’s between husbands and wives or between parents and children or between Godmen and devotees or between politicians and voters, life is nothing but about making deals. So as long as everyone is into some kind of business or the other, he decided that even crime should be treated and dealt with like any other BUSINESS.
Welcome to the new-age gangster.
“The Business Man”
Guns don’t need agreements
The idea is to make “The Business Man” into a trilingual that is in three languages Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Unlike in the done to death rustic style of conventional gangster flicks the shooting style of “THE BUSINESS MAN” will fall somewhere inbetween the slickness of “COMPANY” and the entertainment quotient of “WANTED”
The shooting will commence from October 2010 and the film will be released by April 2011 and the core team members will be as followes :
(Whatever is you say over the the 'Business Man' on paper and the 'Business Man' on screen, but the above write up is the ideal way the synopsis of any film should be written)
Monday, July 2, 2012
Business Man, a Fantasy business
The film business thrives on masses’ fantasies. You pick up any average fantasy of the masses around, weave it in a storyline, take a star or if possible a superstar (this will ease the marketing task) to convey the story and the film will create the expected buzz on box office.
So at present in 2012, for Indians which is the fantasy city in India. Undoubtedly it’s the commercial capital of the country, Mumbai. Except Mumbai citizens, for rest of Indians, Mumbai is a dream city. Everyone, whether he is from North India or South India fantasizes to live a luxurious life in Mumbai… All Indians fantasize to rule Mumbai.
Mahesh Babu starrer Puri Jagannadh’s Business Man (remember it’s not one word Businessman) basically gives its audience a gratifying experience of living this fantasy. The Business Man Surya knows right since the first day he has arrived in Mumbai that he will rule the city (who would like to see a hero spending 2-3 nights on VT station hungry and frustrated).
Do not expect any character journey here (the hero is in control right since the day one).. though you have seen the beautiful and heart rendering journey of the character Satya in 1998 in the same city and it’s an irony that the director of this film has been the mentor and brain behind the Business Man.
Anyways once the hero arrives in the city with rocking confidence and deadly attitude, rest of the film remains a fantasy journey of two and half hours for its audience… an experience of fulfilling the fantasy, an experience of experiencing that heavenly gratification, the experience of having that orgasmic feeling of living your fantasy.
(God bless those who are remaking the film in Hindi)
So at present in 2012, for Indians which is the fantasy city in India. Undoubtedly it’s the commercial capital of the country, Mumbai. Except Mumbai citizens, for rest of Indians, Mumbai is a dream city. Everyone, whether he is from North India or South India fantasizes to live a luxurious life in Mumbai… All Indians fantasize to rule Mumbai.
Mahesh Babu starrer Puri Jagannadh’s Business Man (remember it’s not one word Businessman) basically gives its audience a gratifying experience of living this fantasy. The Business Man Surya knows right since the first day he has arrived in Mumbai that he will rule the city (who would like to see a hero spending 2-3 nights on VT station hungry and frustrated).
Do not expect any character journey here (the hero is in control right since the day one).. though you have seen the beautiful and heart rendering journey of the character Satya in 1998 in the same city and it’s an irony that the director of this film has been the mentor and brain behind the Business Man.
Anyways once the hero arrives in the city with rocking confidence and deadly attitude, rest of the film remains a fantasy journey of two and half hours for its audience… an experience of fulfilling the fantasy, an experience of experiencing that heavenly gratification, the experience of having that orgasmic feeling of living your fantasy.
(God bless those who are remaking the film in Hindi)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)