Back to the future...?

We have reached a point in time now, when everyone’s doing realistic cinema or adaptations of books. Seems like we’re done learning from the movies & they are beginning to take things back from us.

So, do we make movies or do they make us?

The lines have blurred. Fantasy & reality walk hand in hand on screen, that too in 3D. Expectations rise every Friday. Few live up to it, others don’t. Production houses are in a fix. Unable to decide as to what may please a movie-goer, trends have bifurcated. Yet, some age-old formulae work; it’s a sure shot cash-back policy - more like a continuum of the past. Of course, we’re not going to let them get away with that, are we? Probably that’s one of the reasons why creativity in filmdom is subject to much criticism these days. Clouds of controversy hover over various aspects of film-making, much before the film’s released. Comparisons are being drawn in, minute by minute. Probably, they’re not just publicity gimmicks.

People don’t like being kept in the dark anymore (unless inside a theatre, of course!). Also adding to it is the audience’s eye for details. Interestingly, a few of us movie-buffs discuss aspects of film-making which is subject to analysis, like what film-makers try to say without actually ‘saying.’ As a result of such critical thinking, people have begun to recognise movies as something that is much more than this actor’s or that director’s. I’ve been on a retro-American high for a month now. I’ve had back-to-back sessions of Hitchcock, Kubrick, Chaplin & Howard Hawks. Each of them represent starkly different approaches to movie-making – some keep the thrill & twists intact while scripting, some have a keen-eye for details & cinematography, yet others communicate without dialogue & few others bank solely on the cast.

This understanding has led to the recognising of the background effort that goes into what a movie looks & feels like eventually. Focus is shifting to production houses, art directors, graphics & animation studios – most of those departments that never received appreciation even at famed award functions; leave alone amongst people. Technically speaking, new wave cinema is like an ode to this understanding. Acknowledging efforts that go into making a good movie, aiming at making the end product greater than the sum of all its parts, and reflecting the life and times of people today.

But in India, change (in entertainment) as much as it’s wanted, is resisted because unlike the west where history isn’t old; story-telling can move on without the baggage of the past. We still hold a grip over family values & culture, festivals & folklore – it’s like a brightly coloured fabric wrapped across our eyes & thoughts – anything new, is seen in hues of those colours. As means of social change, the fabric has grown thinner over the years, yet its presence is undoubtedly felt. So, the new breeds of directors aren’t trying to say different things, but differently; like a fresher perspective. Remakes, adaptations & sequels were born, thus.

When film-makers undertake tasks like these, they have a pre-defined box; the story, characters, setting, genre etc. This box, of constraints is all that a resourceful individual yearns for. It heightens the creative potential of the team by disregarding elements that are obsolete. Whether the outcome is out-of-the-box or safe-within-the-box is subjective. The need to fool or spoon-feed the audience doesn’t exist. It is a layered movie experience that awaits the audience, all this and much more begins much before the film’s opening night.