++Show me The Mirror!++. Review on Changing Face of Cinegoer

“Keep the door closed, keep the volume low when you fight, atleast behave like humans’. When you walk out of the door you should look presentable and poise, nobody should know what happens within the four walls of your room. You know why? becaz Reality Bites. This was our layman sometime back who was busy hushing the family matters, who suffered from ‘Denial Syndrome’to anything which is a part of his/her life and not so good to look at. Who walked out of the theatre with head held high claiming a movie ‘utter crap’ if it spoke anything out of the closet of real life scenarios and was not termed as ‘off beat’ movie. But do I see something changing somewhere … ? I think yes I do.

Last Sunday I read an article in Sunday Times about Common Man becoming the Mascot of the Moviemakers by Sudeshna Chatterjee. But then that made me strike on the fact that the change could have only be possible with the Acceptance Factor. I mean how can a movie maker bring in a change till it does not have the pulse of the Cinegoer? No success can be achieved till they know what is to be served in the plates and what would be relished by them. That made me realize the point that:

Cinegoers have accepted the fact that Movies representing their Lives are not only about Black and White colors, Grey is a shade too!

They have suddenly started accepting that it would not only be about Fairy Tales, Macho Mans, Drop dead looks, bimbos, thin plots and already expected endings. They are 1001 things beyond that. I first noticed it in scriptwriters Like Imtiyaz Hussain and Directors like Mahesh Manjerakar, when they got realistic with movies like Astitiva, speaking about the skeletons in the cupboard of any normal Marriage. A change started seeping in slowly. Then it belonged to only a particular group of people could speak so clearly about Women’s desires and identity. But Life in a Metro came up with a hope, that viewers knew that this is reality and created no hue and cry about it. We saw faces like that of new age thinkers like Anurag Basu who portrayed the Grey color of life as it is. Recent most is Onir’s Sorry Bhai! Which talk about love happening with a drop of a hat and confused state of human mind and certain blind faith. There is no need to get ballistic about it.

My another hitch came in the form of Omkaraby Vishal Bhardwaj, when I was so sure that probably something or the other would get in the way of the excellent movie, just becaz the language wont be acceptable to the audience. It was a bit too strong for Indian tastes. But to my surprise as I walked out of the hall I found two ladies giving their conclusion about the movie Amazing! They were age grouped 60 odd. I was aback! Is this some kind of revolution I am witnessing? Another view was offered “I know that the language is strong! But then this is what we hear in everyday lives, so what’s the big deal?”

I realized that over hyped movies like Jodhaa Akbar, Race, U Me Aur Hum were accepted and audience still fell for teenage bopper stuff like Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, but eventually they left no mark in their minds. What they are looking for is Reality. Might it be on TV channels or may it be Bollywood. It all started with ad’s where normal looking guys snatched away business from the six-pack well toned model.Advertisers have realized that people will believe “Lalita Jee’ more than Some Hot Model recommending a washing powder. Now same effect has boiled down to Bollywood.

Audience wants to view the necessary t1t bits of their life rather than larger than life picture which would take look unrealistic dream. They need something to hold onto something which they can reach out to. Some people criticized ‘A Wednesday’but some did agree “I know that we can never try doing something like Naseer did in the movie, but still we appreciate it becaz it speaks of our anger. The anger which we wanted so much to be vocal about has been spoken in the exact words. I felt as if I was watching myself speaking in his shoes”. And I knew that :

Its time for the Cinegoer to see his own reflections on the screen.

One noticeable factor again in the moods of the viewers is that they have started observing finer points. You cannot just carry on anything and get away with it. If the protagonist is a Babu, like that of Dasvidaniya he has to dress up like one. If she is a volunteer in a Hospital/Charitable trust , she cannot look as drastic as Vidya Balan did in Kismet Konnection. It’s just not acceptable. The recent flick Rab ne bana di jodihad a scene where Shahruk is hiding in ‘Mens Loo’ and its exactly the same how a college men’s loo looks with some censored stuff and pictures drawn on them. The look, the feel, the dressing sense, the backdrop, each and every thing is scrutinized by audience. If the hero is just another day guy he cannot be dressed in Armanis and Guccis and would be living in an apartment which looks like a Penthouse. The Fish woman would talk, dress and behave like one in Rock On. She will keep on rubbing her hands off the fish smell. Shahna took the cake away with just one realistic scene of her in the movie.

Asserting the facts is becoming important.

Everybody as a Gang is ready to work on it. Background scores are becoming important too. Customised as per the needs, music duos like Salim-Sulaiman offer the one which has something to the effect of thoughts running in a person’s mind in a particular situation. May it be Golmal returns, where I could hear hearty laughs from audiences on abuses fit in at right places and or Sound of the flush in Bachna aye haseeno. People can actually relate to that!

Viewers have thier Spectacles on and inappropriate dialogues, editing, screenplay and cinematographyare not acceptable. They will not fail to point out that Priyanka looked misfit in Fashionno matter even if the movie belonged to Madhur who has been applauded to death for his earlier ventures. They need realism, they need characters which create an impression in their mind with effortless acting like Abhay Doel, Vinay Pathak, Ranveer Shorey Konkana Sen and look like their very own. A story line which doesn’t look like a fairy tale and of course a presentation which would not involve too much Cash but lots of presence of Mind.