What's in a name?
Subhash K Jha
It's all about living in a delusional world. Pakistani actress Meera thinks the film called Rockin' Meera is about her. Her over-enthusiastic publicist in Mumbai wants the makers of the film to prove otherwise.
I'm all for this ingenious method of getting noticed. I am going to sue Shyam Benegal for making a film on my life, called Netaji 'Subhash' Chandra Bose and Sachin Khedekar for playing me without my permission. I'll also urge Mrs Sonia Gandhi to sue Ben Kingsley for making a film on her husband's life…
Oops, wasn't Gandhi about Rajiv Gandhi? So, is Rockin' Meera about Meera? Is Mani Ratnam's Roja about Saif's girlfriend?
Funny, even while her publicity machinery is trying to give the 'actress' from across the border a foothold in Bollywood, Meera continues to mess up her chances in the industry with sensational comments about how badly Bollywood has treated her.
The last she was seen was in Patna trying to get work in a Bhojpuri cinema. Why do we encourage artistes from outside to abuse our hospitality? Delhi girl-turned-US rockstar Mira Nair thinks she is 'lucky' she didn't get Abhishek Bachchan for the lead in her new film.
Has she forgotten how much she hounded the young actor to be part Namesake? And when he appeared reluctant (for reasons that we won't get into) she turned so nasty to Abhishek's business manager that the poor guy swore never to watch another film by any NRI filmmaker again.
Why do these festival-feted filmmakers feel that Bollywood should drop all its engagements and run after a film just because it comes with an international label? In any case, after seeing how critics ripped apart Mira's last film Vanity Fair, I just hope she's done a better job with Jhumpa Lahiri than she did with William Thackeray.
Or, what critics did to Paul Berges's The Mistress Of Spices based on Chitra Devakaruni's book.
Gimme a full- blown Bollywood thali instead, the electric current of excitement that surges in a jam-packed theatre when the screen reads 'A Film By Sanjay Leela Bhansali' or 'A Film By Karan Johar' is an incomparable experience.
I feel sorry for my friends in Mumbai who go noiselessly into pre-arranged premiere shows, kiss cheeks and indulge in false appreciation for something they cannot criticise… not when the maker is playing host.
Critics, I feel, tend to go the other way. Their wholesale dismissal of most of the films being made these days is rather alarming. Apart from Black and Rang De Basanti, which film has garnered above-average reviews?
But do critical assessments matter? I'd say, not the least. If they did, Fanaa would've been down on the ground writhing and squirming. Instead it's gone on to be one of the biggest money-spinners this year. It's easy to see why. A good solid plot-line (and full marks to debutant screenwriter Shibani Bhatija) never fails.
The best way to test the audiences' attention span is to check on his retentive power. 'What's the film about?' If the question is answered effortlessly, then you've a potential hit on your hand.
Fanaa is being criticised for the improbabilities in the plot. Good heavens! Since when have we taken a stand on realism in our masala movies? If you're talking about improbabilities, how probable was the climax of Rang De Basanti or the cross-border romance in Veer-Zara?
When we're given a film worth watching why do we suddenly turn finicky? Fanaa isn't a great film. But it holds the audiences' attention. And that's a rare phenomenon in the movies these days.
Did the latest hit in Bollywood acquire a larger audience because of the controversies? No way! If controversies made a hit then Jagmohan Mundhra's Bawandar and Vinod Pande's Sins would be bigger than Rang De Basanti and Fanaa.
And Meera's career would be really rocking in Bollywood.
| A still from Fanaa |
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