IV Wednesday 18th January, 2006 Hindi ‘masala’ movie stars glitter amidst serious cineastes ince the International Film ents of music, dance, fights, was directed by Nagesh Bigha Zameen, Guddi and Namak Mumbai charmed the audiences Kapoor. He paid a tribute to the Festival of India-2005 was romance etc. served in unpalat- Kukunoor. Haram. Two musicals in Hindi- with their dances and presence. late Ismail Merchant in whose Sheld in Goa, (which is an able cocktail style). The masses Special screenings of the fol- Baiju Bawara and Tansen – enter- And some of them were TV pre- films made in English, Shashi had adjacent state of Maharashtra), it simply love these films as the lit- lowing films drew large crowds. tained many. senters in various channels all acted. Said he:” There is no magic was inevitable, therefore, that eracy rate in most parts of north- They were: Aparhan (Prakash Not to be left with this kind of over India. The excessive number formula to instant stardom; the there was a visible craze for ern India is very of journalists who road to the top is steep and deter- ‘Bollywood’ movies in the Goan low, and digest covered the festival mination, perseverance and sweat capital Panaji. It was understand- escapist enter- was from the TV & can bring you there.” able because this phenomenon is tainment to for- Video Media. The IT Other film personalities includ- spread out all over India. get their bur- has revolutionized ed directors Shyam Benegal, The movie crazy and escapist dens of life the print and elec- Buddhadeb Dasgupta, actress entertainment-seeking populace enwrapped in tronic media so Sonali Kulkarani, director Adoor (largely illiterate) is mesmerized poverty. much so that instan- Gopalakrishnan, director Arun by Hindi, Thamil and Telugu In this piece I taneously all events Koapkar, actor Ajay Devgan, movies as they give relatively decidedly use are covered national- actress Bipasha Basu, actress cheap entertainment of gyrations the term ’movie’ ly and international- Rekha, actor Om Puri, director and lilting and fusion music and instead of either ly. Girish Kassaravalli, and actress thrills with totally unbelievable ‘film’ or ‘cine- One of the ever- Urmila Patondkar fights and crude form of sex ma’ to distin- green ‘stars’ as well Here are some notes on one of scenes. This is the observation by guish ‘good cin- as an actor of some the Hindi ‘films’. The film ‘Iqbal’ many critics in India and else- ema’ from pure- repute Dev Anand is a fine psychological study of where. The 10 million people in ly ‘indigestible spoke in polished handicapped youth trying to cir- the slums of Mumbai and other movies’. By English at the open- cumvent the odds against him. I large populations in Uttar ‘good cinema’, I ing ceremony which couldn’t resist remembering an Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh mean not mere- was held at the Inox American film called “The simply ‘love’ escapist Hindi ly ‘artistic films’ cinema complex Pumpkin” that portrayed differ- movies. but even a premises. Readers ent story but that was also about a At the same time some viewers pleasantly enter- might remember he handicapped youth overcoming in Japan and France too seem to taining well- A visible craze for made a film from deficiencies and scoring well like this type of Hindi, Thamil made films. But ‘Bollywood’ movies one of R.K.Narayan’s unexpectedly. In” Iqbal” too, a and Telugu box office movies as at the same in the Goan capital novels. “The Guide”. young deaf and blind boy aspires reported in the press. The obser- time, in the fes- Panaji. His new film to be to enter the Indian cricket team. vation of discerning critics in tival, the ‘Indian released shortly is The film features one of India’s India is that the Hindi movies Panorama’ included some very Jha), Blue Umbrella (Vishal dishes, the viewers were feted to “Mr.Prime Minister” great all round cricketer, Kapil (except for a few ‘films’) that fine Hindi films. Bharddwaj), Deewana Huye some more Hindi films. But they Dev Anand said: ‘film industry Dev. Other famous serious actors come out from Bollywood do not But it was the ‘Mainstream Paagal (Vikra Bhatt), Dubai were slightly better made quality professionals are the most blessed and directors also act in this film. depict reality and are basically Indian Cinema’ that attracted the Return (Aditya Bhattacharya) and films: Page 3 (Madhur ones by God as they are catalysts Naseeruddin Shah (a very fine entertaining without any depth local viewers. A few box office Parzania (Rahul Dholakia) Bhandarkar, Paheli (Amol in removing hatred and violence actor of international repute) and and combines ingredients known hits were shown in this segment. The quota of Hindi films didn’t Palekar) which were feature films. from the world and spreading the Kannada film director Grish as ‘masala’. Therefore, only excep- There was a mad rush to enter the stop with There was also message of love and affection Kassaravalli. tionally, is a serious note taken on theatres, when such films were that. As hom- Bengali/ Hindi through cinema’. We must know something Hindi ’movies’. exhibited. The general public of age to the late speaking non-fea- Similarly, Rahul Dholakia who about the director of the film too. Readers might already know Goa enjoyed seeing these films as actor, Sunil As I Like It ture film titled made a fine film called “Parzania He is Nagesh Kukunoor. He is an that ‘Bollywood’ is a term coined they were relatively new releases. Dutt, Mujhe Ekhane Amar depicting a communal violence experienced filmmaker having by Indian journalists themselves What I would do here is to Jeene Do, fea- by K. S. SIVAKUMARAN Nocturne that took place in Ghodra in India studied acting in the U.S. He has to indicate that the then Bombay mention the names of both the turing him But the abhorred violence. He said: “My produced a few films that attract- (now Mumbai} is the citadel of ‘Hindi films’ (quality ones) and was shown. ’Masala’ box film does not preach violence or ed the attention of critics. purely ‘entertaining’ movie pro- also the ‘Hindi movies’ (box office Also screened was Mirza Ghalib office Hindi films included hatred…. The message that I set Basically, he is a chemical engi- duction on the lines of masalas), for your information: (1954) directed by Sohrab Modi. Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Black, out to drive through my film is neer He hails from the state of Hollywood. The ‘H’ in Hollywood Although a Hindi ‘film’ Seven Hindi films made by Waqt-The Race Against Time, that violence in any form whatso- Andhra Pradesh. is replaced with ‘B’ and there you entered for the competition veteran director Hrishikesh Veer Zara and Hulchul. ever does not kill just one person get ‘Bollywood’. among Asian, African and Latin Mukerjee also found their place in At the festival some popular but the whole family” Contact: Hindi movies are churned out American films, it failed to get the this festival. They were: Anand, and glamorous stars of the tinsel Another celebrity who was [email protected] with their ‘Masala’ (stock ingredi- best film award. The film “Iqbal” Anari, Anupama, Anuradha, Do world in India, particularly from present at the festival was Shashi /2587617 Education and... Therefore tuition mania should be complete- which abuse the younger generation in petition to screen the best out of best. But team-mates and be humble and patient in Selection should be done based on their ment and should strictly follow a steady and ly discouraged. The human and other physi- terms of drugs, sex and gambling. Imposing has it turned out to be for the country’s sake? victory as well as in defeat. academic merits, other track records and fair recruitment scheme to absorb the out- cal resources that have been already devel- rules to ban lifetime, cancel permits and On the other hand, the competitive exams In the proposed curriculum revisions, own choice. put. Otherwise, whatever the proposed oped for this sake can be utilized to improve make huge fines/ imprisonment and together are not there to identify all the talents. They participation in at least one sports event and They would have to follow few educational reforms, they will not contribute the formal education as appropriate. For with impartial handling of the cases of viola- are a measure of the memory capacity, social activity must be made compulsory for selected and compulsory courses to keep up to the economy and social problems such example, development of extra learning aids tions would purify the society against such quantitative ability or the hard work. Would it all the students. with the moral obligations and social attach- as youth unrest will continue to increase. It utilizing the above resources may be a alter- bad influences and elements. help screening the population for other tal- Higher education and ments during first 2 years in degree pro- will also clear the path to all the evil forces native approach to aid the regional differ- 8. Curriculum revisions ents and interests? No. This is why doctors professional training grams and the first year of the diploma pro- (against the new reforms) to come forward ences in educational standards. In addition, Primary school curriculum must be com- make films today. Mathematicians have The students for higher education and grams. The subject range might be expand- and topple the fresh hopes soon. the timeslots released from the students’ posed of languages, history, geography, cul- become philosophers. Buddhist monks leave vocational training should be selected ed to other Sri Lankan languages, national Social justice through revising schedules would be available for further tural studies, mathematics and arts.