Aamir on why we can't make a film like Inception - Page 3

Originally posted by: desigal90

LMAO! So true!
Oh man...if Krissh in the end result, I'd rather bollywood keep far far away from attempting films liek Inception.
Another point I completely agree with Aamir and Masand on is the "dumbing down" of ideas and films.

Look at the so called "critically acclaimed" makers and movies. Makers liek Madhur Bhandarkar are considered intelligent film makers in the public eye (and they are far better than majority of directors), but his movies are flanked by stereotypes. Heavy stereotypes.
I mean, its not like his films challenge the audience to think a different way. Or to grasp another perspective of a situation. But Madhur in a way "Dumbs down" ideas so they are simplistic, stereotypical, something that our desi audiences can relate to or understand. Almost like something they wanna see. I dunno if what i just said makes sense, but i'm trying to relay it in words, lol.

The only few makers worth considering "genius" in bollywood are Vishal Bharadwaj, to an extent, Sriram Raghavan. Mani ratnam in some instances (lets not think raavan now, lol)
I also love Nigesh Kohinoor (is that his name?) style of movie making.

Ofcourse, this is nothing compared to hollywood films still. Why am I even blaming directors here? I think the main blame also falls on writers.
Where's the creativity? Like Aamir said...imagine first. Then worry about execution. I mean the limit of our imagination extends to what? Terrorism?

But then Aamir also made an excellent point about the audience. That the desi audience is completely different from Western audiences. Those people are far more open to different ideas/possibilities, etc.

I guess with our social structure, "gharelu" films or love stories are the safest bets. Hmm..

VERY well said!

Aamir Aamir Aamir. No wonder he is the best of best in Bolly wood. He was bang on with his opinion and the mind set of the people. Completely agree with his Imagine comment.

Regarding Inception Bollywood shld defnitely stay away from it.

Aamir on why HE can't make a film like Inception? b/c he has made the same kinda of hindi luvyduby hindi films before too. whats with him trying to be all pretentious. wth?

Originally posted by: desigal90

But then Aamir also made an excellent point about the audience. That the desi audience is completely different from Western audiences. Those people are far more open to different ideas/possibilities, etc.

I guess with our social structure, "gharelu" films or love stories are the safest bets. Hmm..

One big problem with Bollywood is that it doesn't experiment much. And without experimenting and trying out new things, there is no way one can achieve a masterpiece. If you look at Hollywood and Bollywood filmography side by side, you'd see that Hollywood had started experimenting (often with failed results) from a very early age. Bollywood, on the other hand, mostly sticks to romantic-comedies. Even to this day, there are very few memorable films based on different genres like sci-fi, historical, adventurous, horror/slasher, fantasy, crime, etc. Isn't it sad that with so many talented actors/actresses and so many years of filmmaking, Bollywood has rarely done anything out-of-the-box? Though, I will add that at least in this decade, Bollywood has tried their hands in many different genres, often with failed results, but they have at least attempted to do something new, and that effort itself is praiseworthy. And many of them were successful and have done well too - Lagaan, Rang De Basanti, Omkara, Taare Zameen Par, etc.

That said, Hollywood should not be the benchmark for great cinemas because Hollywood too has/had its share of crappy films and there certainly are better films being produced outside of Hollywood, by other countries like Italy, France, Germany, etc. Actually, I'd go as far as to say that, since Hollywood produces a greater number of films than most film industries do, their number of trashy films are significantly higher than other industries. Take any of the countless, mindless action flicks being produced, or the doomsday / end of the world, conspiracy flicks. Just as Bollywood produces brainless comedies to earn money, Hollywood has its share of brain-cell-destroying action flicks too (though not to the same extent, because the latter still encourages some thought-provoking issues). But as a whole, Hollywood is open too a lot of new ideas and encourages a lot more thought-provoking subjects when compared to Bollywood.

You make an excellent point about the basic mentality of Indian or South Asian audiences. I don't know why, but the very same audiences (at least many of them) - who crave for artistic, thought-provoking Hollywood movies - when it comes to Bollywood, prefer a sappy romantic drama or a family film. Isn't that kind of strange? Another thing is that the quality matters. Indian audiences in general don't prefer watching anything different, but at the same time, this is quite a harsh assessment, owing to the fact that there have been a very limited number of good quality films being produced by Bollywood that does not deal with the typical theme of romance or family-dramas. As such the full blame cannot be put onto the audiences.

problem is also, that everytime something is done 'differentely' in bollwyood, there aren't that many takers for the story... people are busy taking offense to one minute issue or the other...! unless, of course it has a big star in it...

Originally posted by: PhoeniXof_Hades

One big problem with Bollywood is that it doesn't experiment much. And without experimenting and trying out new things, there is no way one can achieve a masterpiece. If you look at Hollywood and Bollywood filmography side by side, you'd see that Hollywood had started experimenting (often with failed results) from a very early age. Bollywood, on the other hand, mostly sticks to romantic-comedies. Even to this day, there are very few memorable films based on different genres like sci-fi, historical, adventurous, horror/slasher, fantasy, crime, etc. Isn't it sad that with so many talented actors/actresses and so many years of filmmaking, Bollywood has rarely done anything out-of-the-box? Though, I will add that at least in this decade, Bollywood has tried their hands in many different genres, often with failed results, but they have at least attempted to do something new, and that effort itself is praiseworthy. And many of them were successful and have done well too - Lagaan, Rang De Basanti, Omkara, Taare Zameen Par, etc.

Originally posted by: Nuktaacheen

these movies worked, because most of them had a big star... like Aamir Khan...! 😛😛

would these movies be hit if it were anyone other than a big star... Omkara had a good cast too, which was well known... i don't think bollywood is there yet... that they can make a movie on a good subject and still be successful without the need of a big or a well known star or director...!!

of course, we have some cases here and there, where we see success stories, but those are very few....

I'm not denying that. But at least this is an improvement, even if a very small one, if you compare it with the past where notable actors were not even willing to take their chance in a movie that did not deal with romance or the typical Bollywood themes. Even when big stars were part of such films, they were mostly flops (take Dil Se for instance; it had SRK, Manisha was quite popular at that time, songs were so good that some of them can even be heard today, the plot had substance...and yet the film flopped miserably, it received the worst form of backlash a film can ever receive, and it failed to make any impact on the Indian audiences because the audiences could not even understand the theme or concept of the movie, or worse, they could but they were not bothered). I agree that Bollywood still has a long way to go, but I surely can see a leap in the quality of filmmaking and more in the mentality of the audiences.

One thing I don't understand is, why do people limit themselves to a particular genre and not watch anything outside of it? That's the main problem with Indian / South Asian audiences. Many of them are so obsessed with romantic comedies or family dramas that they won't even bother watching anything that belongs to a different category. There so many issues in the world...why is falling in love and dancing in the rain considered the most important one?

good job aamir! bollywood shouldnt copy but come up with something better than inception

Originally posted by: PhoeniXof_Hades

I'm not denying that. But at least this is an improvement, even if a very small one, if you compare it with the past where notable actors were not even willing to take their chance in a movie that did not deal with romance or the typical Bollywood themes. Even when big stars were part of such films, they were mostly flops (take Dil Se for instance; it had SRK, Manisha was quite popular at that time, songs were so good that some of them can even be heard today, and yet the film failed to make any impact on the Indian audiences because the audiences could not even understand the theme or concept of the movie, or worse, they could but they were not bothered). I agree that Bollywood still has a long way to go, but I surely can see a leap in the quality of filmmaking and more in the mentality of the audiences.

One thing I don't understand is, why do people limit themselves to a particular genre and not watch anything outside of it? That's the main problem with India / South Asian audiences. Many of them are so obsessed with romantic comedies or family dramas that they won't even bother watching anything that belongs to a different ccategory.