the age of experimental cinema ...

i got a chance to see this year's Filmfare awards.. It seemed a fixed, or more rationally, an affair dominated by big-wigs of the industry. though bakwaas movies like dostana, rab ne etc got 1 or 2 awards, they had nominations in many of the categories. however, the unforgettable movies of 2008, like A Wednesday, dasvidaniya etc. were just nominated for 1 or 2 categories. Further a fact came up that sholay, the biggest blockbuster india offered just 1 filmfare, that too for editing. Sadly, It seems that these award business is closely linked with the power at bollywood.

Nonetheless, Its heartening to know that the age of relevant, experimental cinema has dawned over bollywood. I'd believe its inception was started in around 2007, with low budget comic flicks proving commercial successes. Am talking about Khosla ka ghosla, bheja fry etc. Before you appreciate these subtle movies, i'd tell you a little history. The start of 1990's were dominated by family romantic movies with the backdrop of indian traditions. (sadly that age hasnt ended and we still see that stuff on TV, nowadays.). Adventure movies like khalnayak, tridev etc, which had poor acting, bad story deserve a mention to tell the taste of the audience.

Then comes the most bad time of indian cinema. Govinda's movies (with the title carrying no. 1) were most popular and widely liked by audience. Only 1 good thing i find about 1990's is that it gave andaz apna apna and maine pyar kiya ...

coming to late 90's shahrukh's romantic movies had changed Indian mentalities. with the advent of kuch kuch hota hai, the concept of girlfriends and boyfriends in teenage life started in metros, which was soon to be copied by in the name of westernisation of india. Then these themes continued till it got so sick that people finally realised yash raj film's movies suck. i personally have stopped seeing any movie of that banner since Kabhi alvida na kehna.

Then i'd call the start of experimental cinema. Till the time people get a particular topic to associate with, experimental movies are finding decent revenues and a lot of acclaim. Black friday, aamir etc deserve an appraise in that matter. more importantly, movies of paresh rawal, naseerudin shah, om puri, kay kay, irfan khan, rahul bose, abhay deol and shreyas talpade have been hits despite no one dominating the industry.

this 2009 has seen the use of mainstream actors into experimental cinema, which shows that the bollywood is finally accepted the age of experimental cinema. with delhi-6, the stoneman murders (i saw it yesterday and loved it), dev-d and luck by chance in 2 months, i hope more meaningful cinema is on the cards for the 10 left.
oh please dont remind me of billu barber .. it sucked really .. whatever optimistic that post says.