Posted:
| Blog: Why Bhansali needs to look at history for hope | |
| By IndiaFM News Bureau, November 20, 2007 - 09:24 IST | |
| Critics find his film Saawariya slow and dreary. Fans seem to have rejected it as dull and depressing. But director Sanjay Leela Bhansali can take heart, for history offers him hope. He has company in the likes of Guru Dutt, Kamal Amrohi and even Raj Kapoor whose passionate works bombed initially - only to be considered cult classics later. Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's story White Nights and starring two newcomers - Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, Saawariya was an effort to merge art with commerce. "If today Bimal Roy made Sujata or Do Bigha Zameen he'd be slammed by critics. They'd destroy him," an upset Bhansali was quoted as saying. But Bhansali can draw consolation from the fact that in the history of Indian cinema, commercial failure was associated with many renowned directors and their works. In Saawariya, while maintaining heightened emotional fervour, Bhansali mixes romance with disappointment and dejection in the climax. The same kind of emotion and tension was reminiscent in Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker and that film was not accepted either. Mera Naam Joker was the showman's most ambitious project and took nearly six years to complete. The film's failure was a major setback for Raj Kapoor, who had invested his personal fortune in the film. It spelled financial doom for the Kapoor family, but he managed to recover the losses with the teenage love story Bobby. Many years after its release, Mera Nam Joker was acknowledged as a classic. Something similar happened to Kamal Amrohi's Pakeezah. It took him nearly 14 years to shoot because of his troubled relationship with wife Meena Kumari. Kamal Amrohi married Meena Kumari when Pakeezah was first conceived but it was not a successful union and after lots of trials and tribulations they parted ways and the film was shelved. Quite a few years later when Nargis and Sunil Dutt saw the rushes of the film, they convinced Meena Kumari to complete it. When released in 1972, it opened to a lukewarm response and was declared a flop. However, after Meena Kumari's death a month later, people flocked to the theatres screening Pakeezah and it became a cult classic. Blog can be accessed at If you have an interesting Bollywood blog to share, do email us Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein or statements made in the above column are solely those of the blogger, and do not necessarily reflect the views of IndiaFM. IndiaFM accepts no legal liability or responsibility for any claims made or opinions expressed herein. |
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